Preservation Buffalo Niagara had some very exciting news to share on their Facebook page this afternoon regarding the potential demolition of part of the Crosby complex on William and Pratt:
[Advocacy Update] Over the past four weeks, Preservation Buffalo Niagara has worked directly with the owners of the Crosby Company Complex to explore alternatives to the demolition of its historic structures located at 183 Pratt Street between William and Broadway. We are pleased to announce that, as a result of these conversations, the owners have engaged a local architecture firm to complete a stabilization plan to explore the long-term preservation potential of these structures.
These industrial buildings date back to 1896 when William H. Crosby and William H. Hill founded the Crosby Company and began manufacturing everything from bicycle frames to automobile parts. Today, the fifth generation of the Crosby family continues to own and operate this important legacy manufacturing company just east of Downtown Buffalo. PBN sees great promise in the adaptive reuse of the company’s unused structures so they can remain part of Buffalo’s story.
Preservation Buffalo Niagara is grateful to Buffalo’s Young Preservationistsfor their contributions to this effort. On very short notice, BYP representatives launched a social media campaign to raise local awareness and were instrumental in generating interest among local developers.
While there are certainly still a lot of factors at play before the buildings can be counted in the “saved” category, this is a huge step in the right direction and only a few days before the temporary demo hold would have been lifted. Hats off to all the organizations and individuals involved in the conversation from the beginning, but a special and sincere thanks to the owners who were willing to hear preservationists out. The future remains bright for the Crosby buildings!