Urban Archeology at Wollenberg Site

Late Saturday morning a few die hards gathered and collected a truckload of treasure from the Wollenberg site on Koons Avenue. We sifted through a huge pile of debris looking for items that represent Wollenberg and the heritage of this chapter of Buffalo's history.

There are a number of additional items still at the site which will be delivered to the Central Terminal later week. All items will be stored in the Van Dyke Taxi Cab office just off the main consourse, for now. Great team work. And a special thanks to Mike Miller and Russ Pawlak for taking possession and acting as stewards of these items from Buffalo's last remaining wooden grain elevator.

click image to enlarge

That's three this year. the two others - H0-Oats and the one million dollar demolition of this on Niagara Street. Buffalo's grain elevator heritage is overwhelming, especially along the river. While enjoying a fish fry in Buffalo's First Ward Friday evening and listening to live Irish folk music - like this - we took special notice of Gerhardt's growing collection of grain elevator items at McCarthey's. Only stained glass work depicting Buffalo's grain elevators that, I know - here and here, by local artist, Lou Fisher.

The Tin Drum has been kicking around Wollenberg for the last two years. Unscathed today. Wonder what Günter Grass would say...

The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open.
- Günter Grass

Still nothing from Common Council President and Broadway Fillmore resident David Franczyk. $68,000 for an emergency demolition and nothing for board-up. And please don't say, "I didn't know." It was on the National Register of Historic Places. I've been critical of David Franczyk's leadership on the Perrysburg, NY deal in the past. Strange, saving the trees of Perrysburg while his Broadway Fillmore neighborhood is burning, literally.

Wollenberg files

__________________________________________________________________________
Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr