Donn Esmonde posted this article (below) yesterday in the buffalo news. Its something that i feel very strongly about. Saving trico and reusing it is the only way to go. We have seen several reuse projects like it and there is a demand for space in the medical campus! Reuse is a no brainer. Let’s hope the BNMC and Oishei can come together on this to do the right thing.
“The $10 million naming-rights gift Tuesday for the coming John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital came with a dose of irony.
Oishei made his fortune selling windshield wipers. The company he founded was Trico. Trico’s now-vacant plant sits at the edge of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. The expanding campus – of which the coming hospital will be a major piece – threatens the existence of the multibuilding Trico complex, which Medical Campus officials have talked about demolishing.
In other words, a gift from the foundation set up by Trico’s founder contributes to the expansion of the campus that threatens the landmark Trico building’s future.
All of which, Tom Yots hopes, makes Medical Campus officials more reluctant to call for the wrecking ball.
“The BNMC people . control the building that ultimately made this [$10 million] gift possible,” said Yots, head of Preservation Buffalo Niagara. “It needs to be stabilized until we find a [reuse]. . Who thought even five years ago that a Rocco Termini would come along and transform the Lafayette Hotel?”
Stay tuned. A feasibility study is due in a few weeks. I have a hard time imagining Medical Campus officials building for the future with an Oishei Foundation gift while erasing the edifice that is part of the man’s legacy.”
Tuesday is my debut show in the Canary Girls, a dreamy electronic pop band in Buffalo.
You should come! I can’t promise it will be great but I am sure it will be fun. I haven’t played a show in a longggg time.
We are playing at Soundlab with FRANKIE ROSE, the mega babe from the dum dum girls. She’s a powerful woman and plays some great tunes. Come!
Here are a few photos I snapped from
The Preservation plus conference on Friday.
I will go into a lot of details later but overall, the speakers were all very good, a lot of ideas were flying around and it’s easy to say that people were inspired and excited for the future of Buffalo.
If you didn’t attend, you missed out but there is always next year!
The past three evenings have been incredibly inspiring. I have seen the keynote opener (who rocked!), the community beer works tour (SO yummy) and the Richardson Complex (semi spooky, no ghosts.. very pretty inside) and all I can say it WOW.
This conference has continued to shed light on to great projects, events, places and initiatives happening in our region. I am so happy to be a part of it all. As Catherine Schweitzer said today – “Buffalo has all the ingredients for a very successful future”.
Here are some links to the places I have visited this week. Check out the web stuff, all are doing exciting things!
I know everyone is totally engaged with the Preservation Plus conference this week but I wanted to take a minute to talk Trico.
In the past week, a few significant articles have been posted on Buffalorising by Rachacha in an effort to keep the conversation going on the future of Trico. These articles are very important to read because they provide insight to what is going on behind closed doors as well as general ideas for the future of the Trico building.
If you aren’t following Trico, a few weeks back there was an article in Buffalo Business First (Print only!) that said the BNMC had a preferred plan, which was demolition of the Trico building and that they wanted to build a new innovation center on top of the rubble. Considering there is a parking lot across the street, I think building on the vacant parking lot instead of paying to demolish Trico and build would make more economic sense, correct?
What is VERY important to know is this – If we allow the wrecking ball to put a hole into Trico, the building will immediately loose the possibility of 40% of the project being paid for through historic tax credits. This is why the pressure must be kept on, why the conversation must continue and why the decision needs to be influenced by the community, not by a political agenda. The BNMC bought Trico after it was labeled a historic landmark and were well aware of its existing problems. The BNMC has continued to assist in the decay of Trico by allowing water to infiltrate and by not providing much needed maintenance. However, it is not too late.
Anyhow, the links are below. Take a minute to read and understand what is going on. As more information gets into the hands of the public, the more pressure is placed on the BNMC to do the right thing for our community. This is especially important because whatever happens with the Trico building will ultimately use our tax dollars, donations and other public sources to get it done.
I look forward to seeing everyone at the preservation conference this week, and hopefully in the near future at the ribbon cutting on a rehabbed Trico Building!
-How do we stop destroying buildings for new parking lots? By promoting bicycling and sustainable transportation.
-How do we reduce the burden of gas bills in the winter in old, historic homes? By teaching energy efficiency.
-How do we promote community revitalization in areas that have little hope? By sharing ideas on whats worked.
Preservation Plus Is Worth Attending.
The conference is during the evenings all next week, except Friday, which is all day! This conference is raising the bar and asking questions that are important to our community as it changes and grows.
The sessions are amazing – community beer works, psych ward tours, central terminal restoration field sessions… heck, even the greeks are getting involved with a tour of their church on Delaware ave.
The conference is only $95 dollars. It includes the sessions, a ticket to museums by moonlight, lunch, speakers, a PBN membership and an endless amount of inspiring and innovative ideas to take home with you.
The Buffalo’s Young Preservationists have said this well – maybe one day all of this focus on these topics will create demand and in turn, create a demand for more jobs. Don’t we all want the cool urban planning jobs? Of course! Attending Preservation Plus will help push that overall effort forward.
Jason and I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of Chuck & Christina Banas this weekend. We also had an exciting time at Secrets of Allentown. Both events allowed for us to explore buildings and places we have never seen before. Click on each image to enlarge.
Buffalo is an incredible city with a giant portfolio of beautiful, historic buildings. We are so lucky to have them within our reach and I find myself to be very thankful for all of the hardwork the past and present Buffalonians have done to preserve and promote this city.
My friend Derek King is a newpat to Buffalo and we threw him into the Buffalo ring – hard. Well, we are happy to report that he is surviving and LOVING Buffalo. I am sure New Hampshire misses him… but we are very happy to have him on Team Buffalove.
I asked him to tell me what he thought about Buffalo and of course, he only had good things to say.
The first thing that stood out about Buffalo was that the people here are so welcoming. It’s not Midwestern “Nice” and it’s not any sort of fake generosity either; it’s a genuine, this is who I am, and if you aren’t a jerk, you’ll fit in nicely. Walk into a bar here in Buffalo, and you can strike up a conversation up with anyone who’s there. It’s incredible how much this place reminds me of being home. People here don’t have a lot of pretension and are willing to give you a chance to be yourself, even if it’s a little weird.
There’s so much beauty in this city. The trees along Bidwell and Chapin, that fill the Fruit Belt. Evenings down at Gallagher Pier, the sunset taking the edge off what is otherwise a towering behemoth of a grain elevator. Buildings that tell a lot about the past, and how great this city was, and how great it still can be. NH has a lot of natural beauty; rolling hills, tree covered mountains, brooks, streams, and lakes all within a stones throw. I essentially grew up in a Robert Frost poem. Here, there’s a different kind of beauty; it’s living and changing, and it’s timeless in so many ways that are similar to sleepy, small town Barnstead, but in such different ways. In the same way that there’s a vibrancy in NH (Most of the state is essentially a forest, with all the wildlife that comes with it), there’s vibrancy here; people sitting on porches, kids playing in the street, and vibrant neighborhoods. Elmwood’s shops and bars, while pretty awesome in their own right, don’t hold a candle to the local corner stores on Grant and in the West Side, and I’d take a beer at Casey’s or Swannie’s any day than at Blue Monk, which are a little more my speed.
The thing that is most impressive, though, are the passionate people I’ve met since I’ve been here. I loved growing up in New Hampshire, and Barnstead was a great place to have a childhood, but there is a prevailing sentiment that life there will never change, and that if things were to change, it would be for the worse. Coming here has been eye-opening; I didn’t realize people could care about a place so much. Not only was it invigorating, getting involved with BYP, and now with the West Side EDF, but it got me to think back to New Hampshire. Before, when I thought about going back, it was always in the context of “when I’m older, to give my (future, completely hypothetical) children the same experience as me.” Now, it’s that thought, but also, “What could I do to make New Hampshire better.”
That’s been the most amazing thing about Buffalo; it’s been a long time since I’ve felt this good about being in a place. Buffalonians have a pretty intense chip on their shoulder, and for good reason; I’ve read enough about the last hundred years here to understand the distrust of good news, of this collective holding of the breathe as projects like the Canalside, Larkin Square, and now Webster Block are unveiled, waiting to see when the other foot will drop.
For me, as someone who doesn’t have that weight on my shoulders, this place is refreshing and exhilarating. Every day has something new to experience. You just have to open up the Artvoice and put your finger down on a page, and before you know it you’re in some sort of back-room jazz show.
There is a quote that sums up how I feel about this place, and it’s only been a few months since I’ve been here, so maybe check back in after winter, but I feel like it’ll stay pretty strong. It’s in the description for the sculpture outside of the Albright-Knox (which totally perplexes me, but most art does to be honest… I mean, why the one row boat?!… hell, why any of the boats?!):
When my friends from Boston tweeted me with the article link, I screamed.
Why did I scream? The article included several of my favorite things, places and things to do in Buffalo. It also featured my midnight bike ride photo and my blog link. Cool! But most importantly, if folks from Boston are reading it – that means Buffalo’s awesomeness is reaching far and wide!!
The city guide is a must read. Its fun & playful and really highlights some of the best things about our great city. Many thanks to Max Tielman for writing this. He is a true Buffalo lover. Go Max!
I now have a column at the Good Hood! For those who don’t know what that is – it is a blog that promotes all things good in Buffalo!
What This Column Is All About:
“I’d like to start my column with an introduction of where I see it going. I usually write for my personal blog –www.berniceradle.com – however, in The Good Hood, it will be a little different. I think I will focus on neat “must attend” or “must see” events happening in Buffalo – but in more detail and with a little more of a Bernice twist. No one pays me to do this; it’s just fun to get people interested in our great city. All articles will be dedicated to the greater good and will help to ignite the spark in people to attend or try new things…or just love Buffalo a little bit more!”
Bernice Radle 