When putting
together my book on Buffalo architecture “Buffalo: Architecture in the
American Forgotten Land,” I set a basic policy
that I would only include buildings that still existed and that had not been
substantially altered. I wanted the book to be about what Buffalo is
rather than what it had been. The core purpose was to reveal something
about this city that so few have a real appreciation for.
I made one
exception to this rule. On page 149, I show the house at 173 Summer
Street. It is a very large wood frame mansion with an extraordinary
frieze sculpture at the roof peak. The house still exists and is in great
condition except that the frieze is now gone. It was removed a few years
ago after many years of neglect. I thought the architectural sculpture
was so amazing it just had to be shown even though it no longer existed (rules
are meant to be broken, right?). Ironically the building shown on the
facing page (148) has also recently lost its pediment sculpture. This one
I did not know about until about a month ago and was deeply saddened to find it
gone.
The building
is the Buffalo Crematory at 148 West Delavan Avenue. It is one of
Buffalo’s true masterpieces, an extraordinary Richardson Romanesque building
designed by E.B. Green. The pediment over the main entrance once held an
intricate architectural sculpture that was a true work of fine art.
It formed a densely detailed sculpted vine in a chevron shape, laid over
red slate shingles. It was stunning, but is now gone in favor of just the slate
shingles. The building is still wonderful but this small loss is big.
The caretaker told me it was removed because it was difficult to maintain
and was full of bird’s nests. He said he thought the owner still possibly
had the sculpture stored someplace but was sure he had no intention of
reinstalling it.
In both
these cases Buffalo has lost a valuable part of its cultural heritage.
These pieces of public art are as important as anything recently
deaccessioned by the Albright Knox but they have slipped away from us in
silence. We need to start understanding the real value of what Buffalo
is. These historic properties are our urban family heirlooms.
Unfortunately we treat them more like commodities. I don’t want
this to be read as a condemnation of the owners of these two buildings because
they seem to have been generally good stewards. But, these small but
valuable pieces of Buffalo culture have been eliminated, and no one seems to
appreciate what a big loss it has been.
You can see
all of the book Buffalo: Architecture in the American Forgotten Land at its new
web site here.
You can buy
the book at Talking Leaves Books, at the Buffalo Historical Society Museum or
online here.
Stay tuned
for more on the Crematorium; I have a few details to share on its
interior.