This Press Release is from the Preservation Roundtable and is for immediate release.
As a group member, Preservation Buffalo Niagara endorses this statement but does not
speak solely for the group or its membership.
‘Cheers’ for Trico, a community meeting and fundraiser regarding the future of the historic Trico Building, will take place on Wednesday, January 30th from 6pm – 9pm at the Lafayette Hotel’s Pan Am Brewery. The event will be an opportunity for the public to contribute to the Preservation Roundtable’s effort to identify an alternative adaptive reuse for the Trico Building. The event is being co-hosted by Buffalo’s Young Preservationists, the Preservation Roundtable and Preservation Buffalo Niagara.
In December of last year the Preservation Roundtable, a community-based member group comprised of real estate industry professionals, concerned citizens and community volunteers, announced that they would be continuing the investigation to find an appropriate adaptive reuse for the historic Trico Building. The volunteer group played a minor advisory role in the production of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus’s (BNMC) ‘Trico Complex Redevelopment Feasibility Study’ which was released late last fall. Preservation Roundtable member Jason Wilson commended the BNMC for their effort but feels that a further investigation is required. “We are extremely appreciative of their study which will provide us with an excellent foundation for our investigation moving forward,” says Wilson. “But BNMC’s current proposed plan is ineligible for historic tax credits which places the future reuse of the entire complex at risk. There is a better alternative out there.”
Another member of the Preservation Roundtable, Real Estate Developer Rocco Termini, echoes Wilson’s comments about the need for a more comprehensive examination of potential uses for Trico. “If I would have listened to every marketing study ever produced without further investigation then I would have never started a project…the entire Trico Building has a future.” The Preservation Roundtable’s investigation will have a larger scope than the previous study by exploring creative design solutions, specific market opportunities and potential economic incentives that were not originally identified.
Next Wednesday’s event will start with a community meeting from 6pm – 7pm. Local
artist and historian Dana L. Saylor-Furman will examine the importance of the Trico
Building to our local history. Rocco Termini and others will be leading the conversation
about the potential for reuse of the National Register-listed daylight factory. The public
will have an opportunity to voice their opinion about what they’d like to see happen at
Trico. Following the community meeting, a fundraiser will be held from 7pm – 9pm to
collect funds to investigate an alternative adaptive reuse proposal. The event is free and open to the public.
About the Preservation Roundtable:
Formed in the Fall of 2011, the Preservation Roundtable is a community-based
member group comprised of real estate industry professionals, concerned citizens and
community volunteers who’s mission is to foster and sustain successful working
relationships within the real estate community of Western New York while actively
seeking to preserve our region’s heritage.
Bernice Radle 