Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - It has been exactly eight months since a windstorm back on Dec. 11, 2021 caused significant structural damage to the North wall of the Great Northern grain elevator in Buffalo's "Old First Ward".
Between then and now, preservationists like the Campaign for Greater Buffalo have been in a legal battle to save the historic 1897 structure from an emergency demolition at the hands of its owner, Archer-Daniels-Midland, that was granted by the City of Buffalo.
In the most recent development regarding the case, Justice Emilio Colaiacovo decided to lift an injunction blocking the emergency demolition of the Great Northern on July 5. According to Colaiacovo, he says then-Commissioner of Permits and Inspections James Comerford had a rational basis to act within his authority to order the demolition of the grain elevator, and while the building has historic interest, it cannot survive with a huge hole in its North wall.
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As of Friday, the injunction blocking ADM Milling Co. from tearing down the Great Northern will be lifted, meaning crews would be able to begin demolition of the structure.
"The respondents - the City of Buffalo, which issued an emergency demolition order back on Dec. 17, and the owner of the building Archer-Daniels-Midland, or ADM - they have to respond to the judge's decision back on July 5, to lift a temporary restraining order and allow the demolition of the elevator. So, of course, we can only expect since the City; ADM has been pining for 30 years to take it down, they're, of course, going to concur with the judge's decision," said Tim Tielman, Director of the Campaign for Greater Buffalo.
"We obviously feel the judge erred yet again. We will ask the judge for an injunction. Me personally, it's unlikely to imagine the judge, having decided against us twice and for the City twice, would change his mind. We're hopeful, ever hopeful. I don't think he, nor anyone else, obviously, sees the probability of this building falling anywhere near what they claim in court. It just isn't."
As Tielman pointed out on Tuesday, the site surrounding the Great Northern is only fenced off in the surrounding limit of the property just before the CSX rail line. Inside the fencing, ADM has set up a portable restroom, as well as a fuel tank that sits relatively close to the northeast corner of the building.
"The City claimed in court the Fire Commissioner and experts by ADM that 'Well, it's a danger to people on Ganson Street.' I see absolutely no provision by the City or ADM, which would indicate that Ganson Street is anything but in a normal situation," Tielman argues. "They're claiming a cafe across the street, the customers are in danger, the staff is in danger. Well, that hasn't stopped the company from operating, and the City also, again, has not provided any protection with what they say in court is an imminent danger to the public."
In addition, Tielman also points out that the City Ship Canal is still being accessed by not only local kayakers and boaters right along the grain elevator, but a 660-foot Great Lakes grain freighter docked at the elevator. He says the City is clearly not worried about the probability of the grain elevator falling.
With all that in mind, and the fact that there's been no further damage to the structural integrity of the grain elevator, Tielman is hoping that will be enough, along with new evidence to support their case, to swing the decision of the judge in the opposite direction to open the case back up.
"There's a lot of legalisms going on that, hopefully, if the local judge is unconvinced of the ability of the Great Northern to stand for another 125 years, the appeals court and Rochester will find, in fact, that the evidence suggests, as well as that the elevators standing there today [eight] months after a section of the North wall came down, that the building itself isn't in jeopardy," Tielman said.
More from our conversation with Tielman on the future of the Great Northern grain elevator is in the player below: