driz716, all tours run from 12:30pm- 2:30pm and all boats depart from the Miss Buffalo Dock at Erie Basin Marina. And RaChaCha, thanks! It was great to see you, too at Buffalo Homecoming!

Driz, more than cool: way, WAY cool! In 2006 I got a couple of dozen friends and historians from My Fair City and Buffalo to go on the tour in mid-July. After the tour, we had lunch at the Hatch, then hustled over to the Col. Ward pumping station, where the Industrial Heritage Committee was giving a tour inside. And afterward, many of us headed over to the Central Terminal to see an old car show. In short, it was a day of seeing monumental Buffalo structures, and the folks who came along are still kvelling about it.

The times can vary (in 2006 the July 4 tour was in the afternoon, but the mid-July tour was in the morning), so best to phone the Miss Buffalo number (above) for details. I saw Jerry Malloy and Lorraine Pierro at the canal harbor a few weeks ago, and I believe they said that the IHC will be hosting another tour of the Col. Ward station this year (or perhaps more than one). You can find out by e-mailing them at ihcdart@netscape.net.

BTW, Campaign For Greater Buffalo had a traditional cruise tour on the Buffalo River every July 4 - notable for Tim Tielman telling the story of harbor boss Fingy Connors - but this year their tour along the Buffalo River is on land in the Open Air Autobus. Details at GreaterBuffalo.blogs.com.

Don't miss the chance to tour the Buffalo River or the Col. Ward station - they're unforgettable!

George, great article and great to see you at Buffalo Homecoming!

for those interested there is only one grain elevator that is in danger and it also happens tobe the most historic grain elevator remaining in buffalo. Yes, its the Great Northern.

The ADM building could easily find redevelopment but the Great Northern is not getting any interest. Its a shame because if the roof could be secured and the silos removed...it would make a great waterfront armory, museum, retail space for sailboats or any number of uses.

Unless someone comes up with a plan for the Great Northern, its going to be demolished

for those interested there is only one grain elevator that is in danger and it also happens tobe the most historic grain elevator remaining in buffalo. Yes, its the Great Northern.

The ADM building could easily find redevelopment but the Great Northern is not getting any interest. Its a shame because if the roof could be secured and the silos removed...it would make a great waterfront armory, museum, retail space for sailboats or any number of uses.

Unless someone comes up with a plan for the Great Northern, its going to be demolished

for those interested there is only one grain elevator that is in danger and it also happens tobe the most historic grain elevator remaining in buffalo. Yes, its the Great Northern.

The ADM building could easily find redevelopment but the Great Northern is not getting any interest. Its a shame because if the roof could be secured and the silos removed...it would make a great waterfront armory, museum, retail space for sailboats or any number of uses.

Unless someone comes up with a plan for the Great Northern, its going to be demolished

Having spent some time in a few of these great structures one can only admire the engineering and skilled craftspeople that built these monuments. That being said, as Mies said, form follows function. The grain elevators were designed for storing grain. That is/should be their sole purpose. The remaining grain elevators must regain their integrity and serve their original function. To view them as rusted, derelict relics of the past with no future other than deteriorating tourist attractions is a disservice to the designers, the builders, the people who worked them and the City of Buffalo