fixBuffalo

'Demolition Season'...in Overtime...

I've been reporting on various demolitions here on the near East-Side, in Masten. Six residential structures have been taken down along Michigan Avenue in the past few weeks and an equal number on some of the side streets. Nothing, however compares to this demolition just a few short block away at Main and High streets.

click to enlarge

Here's what Erie County Preservation Coalition member Greg Lodinsky had to say about this demoliton in a letter he wrote to the Buffalo News.

The "Esenwein and Johnson in Buffalo" exhibit at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society highlights two gifted architects who established and maintained a Buffalo firm for more than 30 years. The exhibit features photographs of some of their best known works: the Electric Building, Lafayette High School and the ill-fated Temple of Music, scene of President William McKinley's assassination. One of the most interesting buildings was designed by August Esenwein in 1893: the German-American Brewery and Hall, located at 23 High St. This is the same building, now altered, undergoing demolition at Main and High streets.

Contrary to the article in the Oct. 11 News, this was not a "derelict" building. Structures of similar condition are now being renovated into luxury lofts in Toronto, Chicago and, yes, Buffalo. For the brewery, this was not meant to be, another piece of Buffalo's heritage struck by the wrecking ball, soon to be known only in historic picture. We are losing our history, and with it, our civic soul.

Stop by Main and High, raise a glass and imagine the German bands playing, the dancing and the rollicking times this building saw; a bitter irony during Oktoberfest to see it go.

Gregory Lodinsky

***Update***
10/28/05 1130 pm

Seems like the near East Side is undergoing a radical transformation...From the Buffalo News on October 11th we learn...

The Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency last month approved a $300,000 low-interest loan to defray demolition costs. Read the full story....

Here's a rendering of what's proposed for the site.

From the same Buffalo News story we learn...

Under a joint venture between AIDS Community Services and Clover Management, Evergreen Center, a $10 million, five-story medical services and research center, will take root at 23 High St.

The new 50,000-square-foot complex will allow the organization to continue providing HIV/AIDS prevention and care, while adding research to the mix, said Christopher Voltz, director of marketing and special projects for AIDS Community Services.

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