If there is one Elmwood corner that I believe could benefit from an Elmwood Association facade improvement program, it is this one. The corner of Elmwood and Forest is the gateway to the Elmwood Village as one enters from the gallery/museum district. Across the street there are still rumblings of an investment where a hotel was once proposed by Savarino. Plus, there is finally investment at/near Buffalo State in the form of the Burchfield-Penney Museum as well as movement at the Richardson-Olmsted Complex. Every time I enter the commercial district, I wonder what the buildings on the West side of the avenue would look like if proper awnings were installed that actually hi-lighted and accented the facades instead of mucked them up and obscured them.
I bet that there would be an entirely different sentiment expressed by visitors if they were greeted by the buildings rather than beat up, overblown, plastic-looking awnings. It’s not like there is one… or two… there are actually four in a row competing for visibility through use of garish light or obtrusiveness. Maybe there is a design program at one of the local colleges that would offer to take on some of these projects in the city. The students could showcase what a period facade would have looked like at the time when these buildings were built. Maybe that would help the business owners and the building owners to see that the awnings actually detract from their business, instead of promoting it.
If there is a design class that would like to take on the challenge, please contact me at Buffalo Rising. We would like to showcase the end results on BRO and in turn help to promote your school and curriculum.
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