With the recent Canal Side opening I could not help but to think about this little bay-fronted beauty on Oak Street just around the corner from Genesee Street. It is a simple unheralded commercial building from Canal Era Buffalo.
At Canal Side, designers went to great lengths uncovering and restoring long buried foundations of Canal Era buildings. The foundations are now part of a historical interpretive park which now promises (based on early comments) to be one of WNY's favorite places. The foundations are unremarkable except that they give ghostly form to what once occurred at this important place in the history of both Buffalo and the United States.
After reading about the new historical park with many references to these foundations, I could not help wondering how we could lavish so much attention on what was, while nearby buildings of the same vintage, still in existence, wait to be demolished.
This great little example of Canal Era Buffalo may be very close to its end and as far as I know there is no plan to save it. It has been in a declining state for the past few decades even as its surrounding neighborhood has seen a dramatic upswing in recent years. West Coast Perspective reported here a on a schematic concept for this and adjacent properties which explored options for new development on this site. Notice that the concept does not include retaining this building.
This building brings great scale and detail to the street scape. Unlike the preserved foundations at Canal SIde It carries with it all the history of this site while offering the potential for new uses which can enliven the street and add the complexity that great streets have. Hopefully, the irony of preserving the ruins of the very same type building just blocks away will resonate with the owners of this treasure before they finalize any plan for the block which removes such a rare and precious piece of Buffalo's historical heritage. The tipping point has been reached. Buffalo can no longer afford to erase the very thing that will make it special in the future.
Thanks to WCP for the pictures