Last week the Campaign for Greater Buffalo held their Trico teach-in at the historic Promised Land Church in Buffalo's Fruitbelt neighborhood. Speakers included Ellicott District Council Member Darius Pridgen; "Trico baby" and small business expert Susan McCartney; architect and Chair of Buffalo's Preservation Board Paul McDonnell; attorney Richard Berger; local real estate expert and Preservation Board member Eric Lander and Tim Tielman. I've archived the full audio of the Campaign's Trico teach-in.
Rocco Termini's $1 offer
Local developer Rocco Termini also spoke. He reminded the audience that less than six months ago thousands of people arrived in Buffalo for the National Trust Conference to celebrate Buffalo's architecture and iconic buildings. Now that one of Buffalo's most iconic industrial heritage buildings is threatened with demolition, Rocco Termini wants to buy Trico. You can hear Rocco take up the challenge to Matt Enstice's $1 offer that the Executive Director of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus made during Preservation Buffalo Niagara's Trico teach-in last week. Listen to Rocco (at the 30:50 mark).
Not to be missed is Tim Tielman's storied account of the 50 year long assault on Buffalo's built environment. Here Tim argues that the proposed Trico demolition is part of long slow process involving the wholesale demolition of neighborhoods around Buffalo's downtown. In order to exist various federal, state and local agencies require a steady diet of buildings. The destruction of these compact, dense and walkable neighborhoods is revealed in Tim's account. It's here in the heart of Buffalo's Ellicott District that urban renewal first raised its brutal head in 1957. Listen to Tim (at the 44:30 mark).
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Tim Tielman's talk would be much more interesting if there was film footage associated with it so that the slides he references could be seen.