Members of a St. Matthew's facebook group had an opportunity recently to tour St. Matthew's Church on East Ferry Street (google map). While the collapse of St. Matthew's is well known to neighborhood residents and fixBuffalo readers - see archive for pics/posts - many of the former parishioners witnessed the remains of their former place of worship for the first time.
One former student drove all the way from Ohio to see what remains of St. Matthew's. He brought his daughter and other former students, now living in the suburbs, brought their children. One couple retraced their walk down the isle from 27 years ago.
After describing the failed attempt to flip the church on ebay and the recent $1 sale, the tour group visited the choir loft and recounted stories of the school's music teacher. At the end of the tour I encouraged everyone to consider engaging in the City's new dialog around preservation and investment. To get started, I suggested they join The Campaign for Greater Buffalo and/or visit the new art museum on Elmwood, the Burchfield Penny.
The facebook group is open. Check out the recent comment stream and pics. See this flickr archive for additional images of St. Matthew's.
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I know this is an unfair statement but there is a certain amount of irony that this group of individuals, whose departure from the inner city, actually attributed to the decline of St Mathews are now returning out of morbid curiosity and shaking their ends at their once beautiful church and neighborhood and wondering how such a terrible thing could have happened – duh!
Almost as bad as the nuts who proclaim at their annual Broadway Market their fond childhood memories of visiting the market and residing in the neighborhood!