Salvaged Salvation
While the subject of 'art' is still in the air, I thought I'd pass along an artistic project that local furniture designer, Jane Stevenson, is working on. I first received the call that something was being dredged from the Outer Harbor last week. I was then informed that workers were busy crushing whatever it was that they had found (see crusher in photo).
It turns out that the objects being pulled from the water were large pieces of marble from, you guessed it, the remains of the old St. Joseph's New Cathedral on Delaware Avenue (@ W. Utica). Some of you may remember the trek to the waterfront last summer to cover the marble remains. When Jane saw that the marble was being crushed, she quickly called NFTA's Executive Director Larry Meckler who immediately called for a 'stop-crushing-order'. There still remains a great deal of un-crushed marble at the site, and Jane is organizing a group of artists to discuss what sort of feature would be appropriate for the new NFTA waterside park. From Jane:
"The original church may be destroyed, but these artifacts embody a beautiful recollection of the architecture and vision once bestowed for public wonder. These were the large size forms known to many of us who frequented the Furhman Blvd. waterfront "marble graveyard," and over the years speculated on their re-use. The carved marble blocks and classic columns were cast along the shoreline after the demolition of the cathedral church which once stood at Delaware Ave. and W. Utica. The potential still exists in this pile of stone, which should not be discarded. The concept is to realize the value of these stone elements being incorporated into a modern design, as they lend themselves to a sculptural landscape arrangement, not merely recalling Buffalo history but becoming an attractive and inviting threshold to the new public space. As an artist, I'm urging everyone who may be in a position to influence the salvage and re-use of this precious material. It would be so easy and cost effective to create a large visual feature that attracts boaters on the water while still being part of a natural growth meadow, and an enhancement to the planned pedestrian pathway. I have been working with a landscape architect on some possible scenarios that would really incorporate an excellent contemporary design feature to the park."
Photos: Jane Stevenson
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Comment Options
Balth
Why cant we take some of this marble and build an art form at the triangle near genesee/ellicott (post from a couple days ago)? Or, we could leave it on the waterfront where 7 pedestrians a year will pass by it (with the new route 5 debacle). It's too bad that this cathedral had to come down, what went in its place is surely a downgrade (the Timon Towers). Converting the Timon Towers into cool condos would really boost the new West Utica corridor.
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LivingForge
I think it would be awesome for a collective of artists to develop some kind of "scultpure of ruins" and that tries to express all that has been lost in the city. It needn't be a "woe is me" piece, rather a reminder of the work that is needed to weave together the architectural and social fabric of a healthy city. It could bear the words of Adrienne Rich (which I first read in Cynthia Van Ness' email signature):
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flyguy
Good idea and quote. Or how about this is a representation of what happens when economic policy and greed f's a region of hard working men and women. Or how about the streets arent paved with gold everywhere in the USA. Or how about this represents the downside of globalization. Or pehaps "we're not sheek anymore", people prefer unreal places now like huge cities built in deserts. Buffalo the city of no illusions is sooo true.
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Jas
What an absolute shame! I was down by the water last year and took a few photos.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jas23/259216507/
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Martin
Is there a photo of the Cathedral?
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rubytoadstudio
I have been carving this marble all summer ...happy to be able to drag it out whenever i needed some. Is there any way we can stockpile it as a stone bank for artists? I hate to lose this rare and free source of material. Artists are frequently asked to and frequently do donate their art and skills for community benefit. Why not support the local artists by keeping this available to them? Maybe we could build a sculpture garden from the work we are doing. Dont take it away!!!
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eliz
I would be happy to buy a piece for my garden. I like the remnants just the way they are, not made into anything. I believe there are a few similar used at Main and Allen, in the greenspace there.
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SilentMajority
Wait... so at some point... someone thought it would be a GOOD idea to dump remains of a building on a shoreline? Where they trying to recreate the Cliffs of Dover?? Does anyone have any info on why the marble (and the bridge) were dumped there? More than likely the city didn't want to foot the fill to have it trucked out of the city.
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benfranklin
Along the same lines as the marble available here, I have two columns, similar in composition, that I might be willing to part with if it were for a good community based cause. I believe they are from the Federal building that was on Delaware, similar columns are out by the lake at UB's north campus. The columns at UB are made up of a number of columns stacked together. Presented properly, they would be pretty impressive.
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sbrof
This certainly embodies Americana.. Take a precious, limited global resource discard it after one use, forget and justify why it can't be used again and spend more of earths limits resources destroying it. For what, to take up room in a landfill and therefore even more resources (land)...
We utterly fail to recognize value and quality. We could use this materials for an innumerable projects. Hell we could even carve these into bricks and make some of the most amazing crosswalks in the world if we wanted.. and that would STILL be a better use than what we are choosing to do. What a waste, this country has no hope. We are all doomed to floods, fires and and famine at the rate we use and waste resources. Enjoy the ride while it lasts.. but it isn't going to last forever.
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sbrof
what about using it repair some of the broken pieces of the McKinley Monument. I am sure a bunch of that 1 million dollars needed to renovate it would be the ACQUISITION AND TRANSPORTATION OF MARBLE to replace that which is worn and broken. Nope, instead we will trow away marble sitting for FREE and spend gas, time and energy crushing and moving it. Only to 1 year from now spend money to buy, truck and shape marble for the McKinley monument! God it took me 2 minutes to come up with productive uses for this stuff are we really this uncreative and dense!
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SLEEPL8
Amazing. All that marble just dumped there.
Dear Buffalo,
You are pathetic.
Love, Everyone who lives in/around you.
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LivingForge
Sbrof is certainly on to something there. Who is in charge of the McKinley monument restoration?
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datyslttam
The church was poorly engineered and constructed. It also suffered from severe structural problems, thats why it was torn down. It would be neat to see some of the old marble reused.
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Frankster
Not to rain on a good parade, but not all marble is created equal. The marble used for the McKinley monument did not necessarily come from the same quarry as the marble used for St. Joseph's. Maybe not even the same continent. There are different kinds of marble in different colors, textures, and densities because of different geological conditions in different places. There could be a glaring mismatch between the two. Kind of like people who make brick repairs with non-matching bricks and that is the only thing you remember about a building.
I am not saying drop the idea, I am cautioning that patching McKinley with St. Joseph's marble might cause as many problems as it solves. Or maybe it is a perfect match. A marble expert should make a determination.
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rubytoadstudio
Even in this new St. Joseph's cathedral there was more than one type of marble used. One source was italian, one originated ,I believe, from a quarry in vermont. The appearance is markedly different.
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jimmycrackcorn
Were trying to sanve historic peices of marble, LEAVE THEM IN THE LAKE AND BUILD SOMETHING NICE THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH A BIKE PATH.
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RisingDamp666
Many of my friends in the wiccan community would love to use some of this marble for witchcraft. Is there any way to score a few chunks for them?
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300miles
Why was the city crushing the marble in the first place? Was it in the way of anything?
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vavoom
Give it away on a first come first serve basis.
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Crazed_da_Loon
I went down there last night with my posse and scored a few chunks of that rock. It's primo shiznette m'brothers.
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bradon
I declare this a national historic site, we need to preserve this marble. It is a significant part of our historic past.
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