The Atlantic Cities has posted a segment on Silo City that shows much of the potential that the industrial site has to offer. It seems that each year the grain elevators manage to attract more attention from outside of Buffalo.
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From the article:
"The magnitude of this campus is huge," Smith says. "I'm trying to take clues from what the site wants to become. It's taken me six years to get my arms around the place," he continues. " At first, I was, like, 'I can fix this, and we then can do that.' Now, I'm not in any hurry."
I've been following the progress at the grain elevators for a while now, and believe that the next couple of years will be an exciting time for the structures. Between art installations created by University at Buffalo Architecture and Planning students and dialogue revolving around connectivity with myriad waterfront projects in the pipeline, Silo City is positioned to be a modernized industrial destination that's time has come. Much like the efforts to activate the Central Terminal, there is really only one sure way to get the ball rolling, and that is to continue to attract people to the elevators and silos in order to show the importance of the site's important history and future.
Articles such as the one seen in The Atlantic Cities certainly help to get the message out there.
The author of this story, Philadelphia-based freelancer JoAnn Greco, has become one of Buffalo's biggest fans. We first welcomed JoAnn during the National Trust (she wrote this piece for the Washington Post shortly afterward: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/the-impulsive-traveler-buffalo-ny-and-its-greatest-architectural-hits/2011/10/28/gIQAFvXhmM_story.html).
JoAnn made a return trip in July - many thanks to Rick Smith and everyone who have opened their arms to her. In addition to this Atlantic Cities piece, look for a couple other stories from that visit to show up in other media outlets in the coming months.
Peter Burakowski
Communications Manager
Visit Buffalo Niagara