One of the most popular complaints thrown about by the pro demo crowd is that the preservationist community (aka obstructionists) only show up at the last minute to try and stop demolitions of historic buildings with law suits, obstruction, and protests while never planning ahead, never being proactive in advance of a demolition emergency, and never putting any of their own skin in the game. I admit to having fallen into this line of thinking as well in the past. No longer though. There is too much evidence to the contrary.
Buffalo has a strong history of preservationists taking the long view and acting early to save valuable and irreplaceable architectural heritage. The Guaranty Building, for example, was saved almost single handedly by John Randal who moved from Chicago to Buffalo with the explicit purpose of saving the building years before demolition was a serious consideration. Even so, the building came close to being destroyed before he rallied the community and even a US senator to help save the building. Organized groups of average citizens have made major positive impacts on efforts to save Buffalo’s urban heritage from Shea’s Buffalo Theater, to a row of extravagant mansions on Delaware Avenue, to today’s growing success in saving the Central Terminal inch by inch to name just a few.
Kleinhans Community Preservation activist Chris Brown relayed an amazing story to me about his efforts to save a vacant fire damaged house in the West Allentown area. He noted quite offhandedly that he once climbed its steep roof to the peek during a wind driven rain storm to nail down a temporary tarp covering a hole. The house is now gorgeously restored and contributes immensely to the neighborhood.
Not too long ago I got a glimpse of the Preservation Buffalo Niagara (PBN) task planning matrix. I was amazed at the number and scope of initiatives they were involved in. Just one example of this is in recent efforts to save the Erie Canal era blacksmith shop buildings. It was PBN that arranged to have an independent engineer provide the report that 118-120 is a sound building; it was PBN that requested the letter from the State Historic Preservation Office that confirmed that these structures are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places; and it was PBN that submitted to Housing Court an architectural historian’s statement on the architectural and historic importance of these buildings. PBN was only founded in 2008 and very quickly garnered foundation, public, and membership support to become Buffalo’s biggest preservation organization, though a professional staff of three can hardly be called big.
With so much to do in Buffalo, can any organization meet our expectations? The Buffalo preservation community is not guilty of waiting for demo orders. If anything, the broader preservation community in Western New York is guilty of being too humble in that they rarely trumpet the many, many things they are doing behind the scenes. Sure they have tours and special events. Their recent awards presentation attracted an audience of 450 people and somewhat over 100 people attended the Neighborhoods Matter seminar a few weeks ago at the Central Terminal. In recognition of Buffalo’s efforts in preservation and its growing number of major preservation successes The National Trust for Historic Preservation will be holding its annual conference in Buffalo this fall. This is no small thing.
To put an exclamation point on what the preservation community is doing in Buffalo behind the scenes, with permission, I have excerpted a portion of PBN executive director Henry McCartney’s current column in the organization newsletter.
Two Weeks in April
As I sat down on April 25th to think about this column, I quickly realized that PBN’s last two weeks (April 9-23) could illustrate our wide variety of activities. During these 14 days, staff, trustees, docents and volunteers * co-sponsored with state colleagues well-attended workshops on tax credits for rehabilitation of historic properties * distributed to the public and key sites our just printed Buffalo Tours brochure * toured the Statler with staff of the Preservation League to explore ideas for League assistance * met with State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) staff about potential new historic districts in Buffalo * provided advice to Niagara Falls citizens and officials concerned about the fate of an historic building at the Deveaux Woods State Park * continued planning to honor outstanding preservationists via our Awards Luncheon * gave a talk on the future of preservation in Buffalo * met about the Delaware Neighborhood Tour of Homes (June 25) and the architectural scavenger hunt (Sept 17) * helped the new Buffalo Neighborhood Alliance organize the May 21st Spring Neighborhood Preservation Forum * joined neighborhood leaders in their series of tours of each others neighborhoods (Hamlin Park on 4/9 and Linwood on 4/23) * congratulated the new owners of a ‘homestead’ house in Hamlin Park * briefed National Trust staff on locations for a pre-National Preservation Conference Tour * worked on conference sessions and upcoming ‘dry runs’ *publicized conference scholarships for New York residents that PBN will be administering, * participated with our state and national preservation colleagues in a forum on the Peace Bridge, * and much more. …
Advocacy will remain vitally important for PBN, but it is only a part of what PBN must do to strengthen Buffalo’s preservation movement. We must keep involving a wide array of people and agencies, we must make people aware of tools and resources to improve older buildings, we must establish a preservation can-do spirit throughout the Buffalo region and we must move forward in a realistic manner. I believe these two weeks in April showed we are doing so.
Henry McCartney
Executive Director
This last sentence by Henry is so important. If you are asking ‘what are “THEY” doing’, you should know that “THEY” are not some anointed power brokers with special powers to save buildings. “THEY are just normal people who care about their city and want to stop the short sighted destruction of valuable and irreplaceable historic heritage in Buffalo. If you are complaining that “THEY” do not do enough you should get involved and give “THEM” a hand. PBN and the preservation effort as a whole will welcome your involvement.