Isn't it funny how buildings previously written off as a mess and uneconomical and beyond repair can be brought back to life.

It is not a matter of saving everything it is a matter of not losing everything. These buildings are a tremendous asset to the city. Another parking lot on this site would have been a disaster.

Just in case anyone's not aware. These buildings would have been torn down a few years ago if the Allentown Association and the Campaign for Greater Buffalo hadn't gotten an injunction to stop an emergency demolition ordered after an arson fire.

Without a shred of doubt, if these two groups, supported by their members, hadn't sued and advocated on behalf of the buildings there would be no Granite Works project now.

Let me start by saying I am thrilled to see these buildings come back to life. And it's nice to see the preservationists patting themselves on the back as they put this project into the "win" column. However, I lived in the shadow of those buildings for many years, when nobody cared about them. I also lived close to the Vernor and Schmidt Buildings as they (literally) were falling down around us (my neighbors and me). Don't be so quick to disregard the feelings of the people who, for decades, suffered living among these eyesores, which is what they were. I can't tell you how many times I heard my guests from out of town asking me why I lived in such a run-down part of the city. I'm with the people who count this as a win, but keep in mind that it's easy to disregard the feelings of people like me if you only had to drive past these places once in a while.

You seem to be aiming your anger in the wrong direction. It is not the preservationists who created the problem with these and other buildings like them. It is the delinquent owners who allow the buildings to get to such a state that they are no longer habitable. Direct your anger at the owners by supporting laws that have teeth and can be used to create change.

I think one of the most tired and ultimately meaningless phrases in the debate about urban America is "you can't save everything." It assumes that there are powerful national and local movements, well-supported by citizens, elected officials, and developers, to TRY to save everything. In truth, we continue to lose the historic fabric of most cities and towns at a pace that makes one's head spin. You CAN save vastly greater numbers of historic buildings than are being preserved with political will and policies that prevent the needless demolition of sound structures. Think of Charleston and Savannah.

No one would deny that residents need jobs and good incomes and a healthy city economy for preservation efforts to succeed on a large scale. But I can't imagine the many people who write about their love of Buffalo, and those who write about their wish to move to Buffalo (as I do), are looking to move to a northern Dallas or Atlanta or Las Vegas. If imitating one of those places is the only way Buffalo can thrive, that would be sad. Besides, they have the advantage of warmer weather-- another American obsession.

Read yesterday's News' editorial about AM&A's and note Ed Healy's positive comments from out-of-towners (separate post) regarding Buffalo's unique charms. There is no reason why AM&A's can't be redeveloped. Granite Works was in much worse condition.

The News regarding AM&A's:

"This eyesore needs to be sold to someone who can legitimately develop it, or the city should raze it and make the site available for new businesses."

Where do they get this stuff?

I happen to live very near thses buildings and I find myself getting really happy each time I drive by & see the progress being made!

Peyton Barlow seems to be doing a lovely renovation as compared to the "stucco-over" jobs that seem to plague many of those poor beautiful yet majestic buildings.

Good work First Amherst!

Please buy 99-123 Genesee from that loser Genrich and make that block as lovely as it deserves to be!

As far as 844-874 Main, the neighbors who lived in their shadow have been after the delinquent and neglectful owners of these properties (well before they were turned over to the city) for many years. Unfortunately, it takes city enforcement of codes to get the owners to do anything and the city often ignored these owners and their violations. One of the owners even got Donn Esmonde to write a "boo-hoo" column about how he couldn't afford to fix his building or pay taxes!

It has been an uphill battle but it has BEEN a battle for 20 years, brought to a head by the fire. It's not just the preservationists who have worked on this. Concerned neighbors have been active as well--not just "suffering."

Now we have to worry about the rest of the block, but we won't be suffering; we will be active.

Some new windows actually went in today on the second floor on the Virginia Street side.

To annon: you couldn't be more wrong about no one caring for those buildings. I am one over half a dozen people I've since met who desperately wanted to acquire and rehab a building on that block, only to be rudely rebuffed by the Property division of City Hall.

My other half and I spent a year of our lives (1995) trying to pry an abandoned building on the 800 block out of them. We had a lender who was ready to write us a mortgage, we prepared a rehabilitation plan and budget, we'd have been owner-occupants, living on site, and we'd have brought a small business downtown to use the storefront. We were never even granted the courtesy of a face to face meeting with anyone in the Property division.

Meanwhile, to add insult to injury, City Hall whined in the press about all the unwanted, abandoned buildings they were stuck with, and proceeded to name developer after developer for the 800 block who failed to deliver. I think Mr. Obletz is the third designated developer for the site.

Had we and others before and after us been given the time of day, some of those buildings would have been occupied, on the tax rolls, and brought up to code for a decade now.

This is a complicated issue, and I think a few things are at work here.

For one, the preservation board and others at City Hall, etc. are known for being tough to dal with and I see this project partially as them easing up (at least a bit).

The developer vs. preservationist battle is one that only creates tension. It is a question of wanting economic development, yet not wanting it at the cost of our history and urban fabric. Whoever said that the problem has been a number of the owners - I couldn't agree more. A lot of the time the problem was out of town and local interests waiting for the Buffalo boom yet not doing there part to help create it.

WoW. I remember this corner area being so ghetto looking and creepy. I am excited to see ALL These buildings getting revamped at once. Good work so far. Can't wait to see the end results.