“Saint Mary’s on the Hill… even today we could go and stabilize Saint Mary’s in order to honor the building and the neighborhood. Preserving the towers and the walls would be the beginning of saving it. It can at least function as a monument, or hopefully preserve it for future use. It is a city landmark. Pittsburgh and Boston are taking more of an aggressive approach to these types of scenarios. Actually, not only larger cities, but also smaller communities understand the importance of preserving architecture. Take Niagara on the Lake – people drive down from Toronto just for the opportunity to walk down a sidewalk that is like how America and Canada used to be. Niagara on the Lake is very careful with demolitions and new builds. And it’s paying off in spades. In all communities the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
“The political machine doesn’t respond until it’s a crisis. The Richardson Complex – it was easier to get a hundred million dollars in crisis situation than it was to get a hundred thousand for routine maintenance. The Brown administration has a list of building s to save as part of the stimulus package – but the frustrating thing is waiting for that money to be freed. I was in the Summit building five years ago when a hole was in the roof. The Chief Building Inspector at the time estimated that it would be over $100,00 to demo the building due to the adjoining buildings. He also stated that it would cost $40,000 to patch the roof. The Masiello administration did not pay that $40,000. Now, just saving the façade and part of the rear façade would cost $700,000. The City would rather use the smaller sums of money to work on other projects – what do they think is going to happen to these buildings if they are not shored up? The cause of the Summit Building’s condition? No pressure to enforce the codes. The Jersey Street Stable is another great example – it took a moment of crisis for The City to do anything.
“Regarding the Falcon parking lot on Wadsworth? Our zoning laws should be rewritten. If these commercial owners need additional parking depending on how many customers that they can serve, then of course they are never going to build on a parking lot. It’s a 1953 zoning law that eventually produces Cheektowaga. Pittsburgh has figured it out. There is a system of taxation that taxes lots like the one where The Falcon was demolished. The lot is taxed according to the land’s potential. It wouldn’t make sense to keep it as a parking lot. It’s our tax policy – it encourages people to demolish buildings rather than maintain them. When it makes more financial sense to demolish a building, guess what the owner is going to do? If we kept up the façade of the Falcon Building, eventually we would have attracted another Wendes Jones who would look at it as an opportunity. There are people who respond the coolness of that sort of environment. How many parking spaces are there now? (five?). The Falcon Building could have been like the mansion on Delaware (near Allen) that reused the façade and maintained the character of the street. These facades can last hundreds of years. And the building is gone for the most part, so you don’t have to deal with the outdated zoning issues.
“As far as change of policy, I don’t know what it’s going to take. Once again, if people are complaining, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Any citizen can call The City and complain. If CitiStat is working, then something should get done. Buffalo Rising should have its readers call The City on problem properties. The City inspector might need access from adjacent buildings in order to fill out a violation. We’re all in this boat together. Citizens need the tools to know how the system works – we need to get the citizens more involved with watching over these buildings.”