Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Preservationists are turning to New York State in an attempt to help preserve the historic Great Northern grain elevator in Buffalo's "Old First Ward".
The Campaign for Greater Buffalo has sent a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, urging the State to step in to ensure the long-term future of the Buffalo landmark.
It was Tuesday when a State Supreme Court Judge decided to lift a restraining order that blocked an emergency demolition order issued by the City of Buffalo last December after a windstorm opened a hole in the building's north wall. The Campaign for Greater Buffalo had sought to have owner Archer-Daniels-Midland's demolition request go through appropriate public reviews.
"Whether we win or lose in the courts, the Great Northern over the last seven months has shown that it is not going to fall over because a section of curtain wall fell off, and that, as eminent engineering organizations and documentary architectural historians have found, the building was designed to stand even without any walls at all," said Campaign Executive Director Tim Tielman in a statement. "What endangers it is the neglect of its owner. We therefore propose a new owner, the State of New York. With state support, the Great Northern can be a crown jewel of the state's Buffalo waterfront lands, and a crown jewel of the state park system."
In Tielman's letter, he formally requested that Gov. Hochul take immediate action to express the State's interest in saving the property through ownership. That would help secure the future of the structure, which has been considered a technological marvel being a steel-chassied, brick-jacketed grain elevator.
The Campaign vows to continue fighting in the courts to save the 1897 structure from its demise.
The Great Northern has been a designated Buffalo landmark since 1990. ADM bought the structure in 1993.
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