Last Saturday I received a phone call from a group of people who were facing losing their houses through eminent domain. These were the same people who have been living in what they called "A never ending Groundhog Day, where, for twenty years, we have been waking up and wondering if the nightmare will ever end."
The group asked me if the BRO readership would want to listen to their side of the story. It was suggested that I take a walking tour around the Columbus Parkway neighborhood to see, in person, the blocks that they have been fighting to save from the Peace Bridge expansion. I asked them 'where and when' and they said, "Just follow the black ribbons that can be seen tied around all of the trees... those black ribbons mark the properties that will be affected if the Public Bridge Authority has its way."
When I pulled up to the designated house on Columbus Parkway I was greeted by (L-R: see below) Linda DeTine, Kathy Mecca, and Liz Martina. They stood with a group of neighbors and Liz immediately said, "We better get walking because the sun's starting to go down and I want you to see how beautiful this area is." I told her that I was familiar with Columbus Parkway, but as they led me up towards Niagara I knew that I was in for an eye-opener.
You see, I never really knew just how expansive the project was (and neither did they until... well... actually nobody knows exactly how many properties will be lost).
As a matter of fact, they're still not sure how many more houses will be impacted by the expansion. "That's what we're trying to find out," Kathy said. "We just want to be informed on what is really taking place here. We read in The News that our houses were being impacted... nobody told us... it's really scary to live in a neighborhood that is in peril of being demolished."
As we walked around the block the group pointed and talked about history, architecture, and families. They pointed out the historic parish that was in jeopardy, the old occupied houses, and the series of unoccupied houses that the Public Bridge Authority had purchased thirteen years ago.
The condition of those once historically significant houses was deplorable. For years they had been allowed to sit vacant and rot, while even vagrants and squatters lived inside some of them. "This is what we've been living with all these years," Liz said. "I look out onto this mess every day...and now they want to take my house. I've been a good neighbor and a good citizen. The plaza was never to cross Busti. The plans keep changing and now these neighborhoods are going to pay for it. We've already been paying for years and years. We're not obstructionists, we're families and these are our homes...this new plan should be a last resort and it's not."
It is unbelievable what these three and the other concerned residents of the district have had to research on their own. They've attended meetings, invited politicians into their homes and reached out to the media. The group has looked at all of the plans as well as the alternatives. They are not against the building of a new bridge, they just want the oversized expansion footprint to recognize that there is an historic neighborhood that is about to be altered so that Buffalo can see more truck traffic pass through on the way to other cities.
How much does the city see in a year in exchange for ripping apart a neighborhood? Is it worth it? Or can the truck traffic be diverted up to the International Bridge, which is still located in Buffalo? They are not even against a single Signature Bridge, but is the current 'historic' Peace Bridge really worth keeping around if it means that a twin span concept must be adopted, thus creating an expansive plaza in order to accommodate the two bridges? Are all of the necessary custom lanes open to begin with? These are the questins that this neighborhood wants to know before it's too late.
By the end of the tour I asked Liz, Kathy and Linda if they would be interested in speaking on an audio podcast. They agreed, and here it is – a half hour session that explains their frustration with the process, the plan, and the PBA. Below is the summary, titled Neighborhood Significance, an overview of the neighborhood in question. It's part of documented Peace Bridge Expansion Project findings as presented by Foit-Albert in an Associated Historical Architectural Survey Report (dated 2004). The 21 page report, in it's entirety, can be found at www.peacebridgex.com.
The study gives a fascinating breakdown of the history of this waterside neighborhood, and weighs its value and importance in an urban setting. The short clipping describing the chapel (above) is from the same survey report.
