Summer 1992 Table of Contents
Update . . .
Martin House – Restoration of the Martin House took another step forward with the announcement by the State Office of Historic Preservation that the local architectural firm of Hamilton, Houston, Lownie has been hired to oversee the restoration. The state hopes to have phase one of the restoration completed and the building reopened to the public in a year. The $4.5 million restoration is planned to be done in four phases.
The restoration of the house was almost derailed in May by the Bush administration which attempted to take $500,000 which had been allocated by Senator Moynihan for the restoration, and reprogram it. Senator Moynihan was alerted to the money grab by Assemblyman Sam Hoyt and was able to have the Senate Appropriations Committee tell the Interior Department that the money must go toward the rehabilitation as planned.
Final details on the new non-profit group that is to operate the building under lease from the University of Buffalo have not yet been released.
Market Arcade – Several years after Jim Kelly revealed that he was interested in redeveloping the Market Arcade, plans have still not been solidified. Common Council members are a bit miffed that Kelly and his partner in the project, Frank Ciminelli, want the city to up front a large share of the expected $8 million cost. They are currently seeking a $4.1 million loan from the city and $350,000 in block grant funds. This is down from an original request for $6 million in loans and a $2.5 million block grant.
Kelly wants to put in a sports bar and shops. A visitors center for the Theater District is also to be part of the project. Regrettably the Market Arcade Building is not included in Phase 1 of the "Market Arcade" project, only the adjacent buildings. The market arcade would be included in Phase 2 if Phase 1 was successful.
Fisherman's Wharf – Fisherman's Wharf, the hideously painted but wonderfully detailed Queen Anne Building at the corner of Chippewa and Franklin, remains under threat of demolition. Last September when owner Myron Robbins received an emergency demolition notice from the city he contacted the Coalition for help in fighting the demolition but has since changed his mind. Robbins told the Preservation Board that he wants to tear down the building and replace it with a parking lot. Mark Goldman, who restored the Calumet and as a chronicler of the Rise and Decline of Buffalo should know better, has been pushing for the parking lot. Ironically, Robbins acquired the building in a lawsuit against another developer who wanted to tear the building down for parking. As we go to press, Robbins has contacted the Coalition again to seek a solution regarding the fate of this building.
Teck Theater – Like the malpracticing doctor who buries his mistakes, the City of Buffalo has swept away the last remnants of the Teck Theater at Main and Tupper with a bulldozer.
Over a decade ago the State Department of Transportation hornswoggled the merchants of Main Street into buying the "Pearl Street Connector" the curving road that allows traffic from the Kensington Expressway to bypass Main Street on its way downtown via Pearl. The shopkeepers bought the story that the connector would bring suburbanites to their back door. Little did they realize (although some tried to warn them) that no traffic on Main Street meant no traffic through their front doors. Many of those merchants who said to let the professional highway planners do what they know best, are no longer around to lament their decision.
The original plan was to demolish the entire Teck Theater. State officials claimed they had "saved the viability of the Teck Theater" by demolishing "only" the rear theater section and leaving the lobby and facade. Plans were talked about to put mini-theaters and stores in the remaining front section.
Over the years the out-of-state owner put forth various plans to fix up the building but nothing was ever carried out and he continued to let the building deteriorate.
Buffalo Zoo – After months of delays caused by neighborhood protests, the Buffalo Preservation Board has approved a somewhat modified wall for the expansion of the elephant house. When Parkside residents learned of the 160-foot long, 11-foot high concrete wall that would run for a great deal of its length along Parkside Avenue, they were up in arms. The Preservation Board ordered the Zoo to do an environmental impact statement. The Parkside Association criticized the Impact Statement as having substantial flaws and inadequacies. Criticism was raised that the wall would act to block off the park from the community and that the Zoo had not considered other alternatives.
After some changes to the impact statement it was accepted by the Preservation Board. The Board required a number of changes to the wall before it was accepted. The final version of the wall will be a foot lower, have a curve to it, be broken up by columns and have a textured surface.
Gas Works – National Fuel Gas's own private castle, the 1859 Buffalo Gas Light Company Works at 249 West Genesee Street (near the Hilton), is now an official Buffalo landmark. After an article ran in the Buffalo News about demolition by neglect and how this was an endangered landmark, the company was persuaded to board up the broken windows.
Breckenridge Church – Landmark designation for the former Breckenridge Church is still up in the Common Council legislative committee while Niagara District Council Member Carl Perla seeks an equitable solution on the use of the building.
Tugboat Nash – In the Winter 1990 issue of the PRESERVATION REPORT we reported on the danger to the historic tugboat John F. Nash which had been designated as surplus property by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This past December the Port of Oswego snuck the boat out of the Buffalo harbor, upsetting the Maritime Discovery Center of Rochester which had hoped to put it on exhibit on the Rochester waterfront.
The Nash was recently named a National Landmark due to its active service in the Normandy Invasion in 1944. The Nash was assigned to the Buffalo District of the Army Corps of Engineers in May 1946 and has been a working tug until recently.
There is a question over whether the federal government acted properly in releasing the tug when they had been notified by the state's historic preservation office about the historic status of the tug. The Rochester group is concerned that the Port of Oswego would alter the tug, damaging its historic status.
It's interesting that two out-of-town groups are fighting over a ship that has the most connection to Buffalo. The Buffalo Naval Servicemen's Park has done a nice job in creating a tourist attraction but their ships have little connection with Buffalo while the ships that have a true relationship with Buffalo, such as the Nash, the lake freighters that played such an important role in our development, and the Canadiana have yet to find a berth on the Buffalo waterfront. A watchful eye must be kept out for the Cotter with the City's plans to shut it down so that we don't lose another link to Buffalo's historic waterfront.
