fixBuffalo

I visited Transfiguration Church on Sycamore Street a few times this past week. While urbaneyes and I rang two of the three bells still high in the belfry and spent considerable time marvelling at the extraordinary beauty of what remains of the church's interior - others were shooting.

Jay Morrison of Toronto and Mat from the DK PhotoGroup were around. Jay's photo's - flickr slideshow - and Mat's - also, flickr slideshow - are really extraordinary and capture the unique beauty of one of Buffalo's most forgotten religious ruins at this moment in time. Olga was around, too. Check out her work - here, on livejournal.
Inside Transfiguration, finally...contains references and links to the sale of this church and recent Housing Court history. Sean Galbraith's work - another DK Photogroup member - is featured in that post. Amazing, bookmark the page and pass it around.

Still wondering how things like this happen. I mean the City's most progressive housing court advocate, Judge Nowak - probably in the history of Buffalo - has never seen the file on this building in his court room. Get this, in three years - index #869/97. And Common Council President David Franczyk, who lives just around the corner from Transfiguration Church - is silent and has spent more time trying to save Perrysburg - you just won't believe this - than he has in his own neighborhood. Oh, almost forgot, there's a Polish Bishop here in Buffalo, Bishop Kmiec, too. No Polish heartstrings to pull on this one. Strange, I know yet the storefront church directly across the street from Transfiguration is in significantly better condition.

Would love to listen to my favorite Mahler, Symphony #2 - Die Auferstehung, feet up in the choir loft here at Transfiguration sometime, soon. Way appropriate especially considering which poet Mahler embraces for inspiration on this one.