Mayor Brown wants to free up what he sees as a near-downtown development site. To create that parcel, he wants the State to help pay for a new City streets garage. Brown is seeking million of dollars from Albany to build a public works facility somewhere in the city and then demolish Broadway Auditorium, commonly known as the “Broadway Barns” at Broadway and Nash Street to allow for future development. The demolition would remove what remains of the circa-1854 State Arsenal Building and 1884 drill shed on the site that was remuddled by the City in the 1950s (see history of property here).
Armory – portion of building remains inside the Barn
Drill Shed addition
The Buffalo News has the details:
Though he does not know exactly where a new facility will be located, he said the city seeks a “more industrialized” area.
Brown said the plan would be to remove snowplows, garbage trucks and construction equipment from the burgeoning neighborhood near the current facility in the African-American Tourism Corridor. Not only would operations prove more efficient and workers be safer and more comfortable in a new facility, he said, but the removal of the vintage 1890 structure on Broadway would prove ideal for new development.
Brown has been trying to get the Broadway Barns demolished since at least 2011. At the same time, the City sought proposals to establish an “Urban Arts Center” in the building.
Four years ago, the cost of a replacement maintenance facility was pegged at $25 million. The near east side is not lacking for development sites. The full-block Buffalo Forge site a few blocks away has been development-ready since 2006 (below).