Newsletter of the Preservation Coalition of Erie County (Home Page)
June 1996
Table Of Contents
Frustration City: Landmark owners who donít care
By Susan McCartney
The City of Buffalo has its share of negligent property owners, those who for whatever reason fail to maintain properties which must then be demolished as threats to public safety. It is doubly vexing when the properties in question are officially landmarked structures. Examples are 159 Swan St. and 60 Hedley Place.
The 1850s stone farmhouse on Hedley Place raises intriguing questions. It is in deplorable condition. A tree grows out of a rear wall. The owner seems frozen, unable to fix the property or turn it over to a responsible party, despite much talk over the years. The ownerís latest idea is to turn it over to three separate groups, which is dead from the get-go. The city has offered to buy the building for $1 and fix it, but has been rebuffed.
The question is: Would it serve a public purpose for the city to pursue emergency demolition on the building as long as it is adequately fenced off, presenting a danger to no one?
The house (and site) retains cultural and historical value even as a ruin. Countless landmarks nationally are maintained as ruins. Benjamin Franklinís house is maintained as an archeological site, and the National Park Service actively reduced a Seneca Falls building to a historic ruin, yielding a moving and cheap solution to the restoration/demolition dilemma.
We might be wise to try it here.