Rocco Termini and his dollar.

Tonight the Campaign for Greater Buffalo History, Architecture & Culture hosted a meeting about the future of the Trico building at Promised Land Baptist Church, at High and Mulberry streets. Among the speakers was developer Rocco Termini, who in recent years has become one of the city’s preeminent restorers and re-users of historic properties.

Termini said that during a meeting last week, the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus’s executive director, Matt Enstice, told him that BNMC would sell the Trico building to anyone who thought they could come up with a feasible plan to reuse it for $1. (How that would work is unclear: BNMC doesn’t own the building. A city agency called the Buffalo Brownfield Restoration Corporation owns it. Anyway…) Termini seemed to believe that Enstice was bluffing—that Enstice was simply arguing that no developer could make the finances work for preservation of the iconic downtown factory.

“I’m here tonight to tell you that I’m going to call his bluff,” Termini said to the 50 people who attended the meeting, a crowd that included Common Council members Darius Pridgen and Dave Franczyk. “I have a dollar in my pocket.”

Termini said he wanted control of the property for two years, in which time he’d create a plan and finance it. He said that the demolition that BNMC is pursuing would likely take two years to be approved anyway, so why not give him a chance to save it?

More in Thursday’s paper.

Somehow, in this post, we left out a final letter from Siracuse Engineers to Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, dated January 27, 2010, in which the firm decline to visit the complex again.

There’s a meeting tomorrow evening (Tuesday, March 27) about the fate of the Trico building, hosted by the Campaign for Greater Buffalo History, Architecture & Culture. It takes place at Promised Land Baptist Church, at High and Mulberry streets. Speakers include Ellicott District Common Councilman Darius Pridgen, small business advisor Susan McCartney, architect and Buffalo Preservation Board chair Paul McDonnell, environmental attorney Richard Berger, and real estate expert Eric Lander.

To be added to your desktop collection of collectible Trico documents: reports on the building’s condition by Siracuse Engineers and Trautman Associates.

As the reports acknowledge, these are not comprehensive studies. They are preliminary assessments commissioned by Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (the developer) and the Buffalo Brownfield Restoration Corporation (the owner). Enjoy.

…then you’ll be interested in reading the contract between Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and the Buffalo Brownfield Restoration Corporation, spelling out the terms under which BBRC—a subsidiary of Buffalo Urban Development Corporation, a city agency—took ownership of the Trico building and BNMC became designated developer.

You’ll note that BBRC is obligated under the contract to repair the building’s parapet and to maintain the building in its current condition, less normal wear and tear. The deal was signed in 2007; the parapet is still crumbling and, because the hole in the roof was never repaired, the building is in worse condition now than it was five years ago.

Later, we’ll post some surveys by engineering firms.

Here are a few items that didn’t fit into this week’s print story on the Trico building:

1. Some eyebrows have been raised over the fact that in January 2010, Ontario Specialty Contracting, one of the region’s biggest demolition firms, formed a limited liability corporation called 791Washington Street, LLC—which happens to be an address associated with Trico Plant #1. Does OSC have some ownership stake, currently or in the future, in that property?

Not exactly. Here’s how that works: Let’s assume that the Buffalo Brownfield Restoration Corporation, on behalf of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, had succeeded in procuring a demolition permit in 2010. The contract would have gone to OSC. (How that happens without a bidding process, I don’t know, but this is Buffalo. Even if a bidding process had been required—and even if one is required for the demolition BNMC is talking about now—I think it’s a safe bet that OSC will get the job.) Before demolition began, title to the property would be temporarily transferred to 791 Washington Street, LLC, in order to protect BBRC and BMC from any liability during the demolition work. When the demolition was finished, BNMC would buy back the property for the cost of the demolition work.

It’s not an unusual practice. Only the presumption that OSC would get the contract to demolish a building owned by a public agency without a bidding process is unusual. But again, hey, this is Buffalo. We called John Williams, president of OSC, to ask him about this, but he didn’t return the call.

2. In case you’re wondering how much it would cost to seal up the roof of the Trico building, something none of its owners have seen fit to do since 40 to 50 percent of it was removed back in 2001: We asked a guy in the commercial roofing business last week, and he guessed the most it would cost was $10 per square foot, and probably $4-$6 per square foot if the goal was simply to mothball the structure. If the roof is 100,000 square feet—that’s a guess, based on the building being six stories and 580,000 square feet—and half of the membrane is gone, then the least it would cost is $200,000 (half the roof at $4) and the most is $1 million (the whole roof at $10). From preservationists I’ve heard a much smaller number, and maybe it’s justified, but having talked to some folks who have walked on that roof and seen the damage wrought by 12 years of neglect, I think it’s prudent to look at the higher numbers.

3. One argument against the reuse of the building is that the center of the building is too far removed from the windows; no tenant wants to rent space in the center of a bunker. But, as Nichols Miller writes here, a light well in the center of the structure could solve that.

4. As noted in the story, the proposal BNMC is likely to bring forth will include the possibility of keeping the part of the building that runs along Goodell street between Ellicott and Washington, in order to preserve the iconic parapet and maintain the integrity of the urban fabric at this automotive gateway into the city. (Read: not a parking lot or any other setback use.) It’s important to emphasize that BNMC is not interested in developing that building. They’re willing to spare it the wrecking ball if a developer can be found for it.

It’s also worth noting this: I was told—and, having reviewed some studies of the building, I believe—that some of the complex’s worst environmental and structural issues, such as they are, exist in that structure. That’s not to say those issues couldn’t be resolved; it’s just context in a discussion where environmental and structural issues are being cited as a reason not to preserve the complex.

More soon.

In the last week or so, the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus has been showing folks this picture, which describes a phased demolition plan for Trico Plant #1, the former industrial complex it purchased in 2007:

The plan suggests that BNMC would like to begin demolition on April 15, though the issue does not yet appear on the agendas of any city planning agencies. The Campaign for Greater Buffalo History, Architecture and Culture has been readying for the fight to save this building, and Preservation Buffalo Niagara released a statement this morning:

Preservation Buffalo Niagara is appreciative of the opportunity to have met with the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) director regarding the National Register-listed Trico Plant #1 Building. Our part in the discussion involved the offer to assist in educating those involved as to the historic preservation opportunities regarding reuse of the building and the State and Federal regulatory processes involved with National Register Listed sites. Additionally we offered to assist in seeking funding to finance a historic preservation adaptive reuse study for the Trico Plant #1 Building.
 
The BNMC has declined these offers of assistance. We recognize and regret that, since the building is not protected by local landmark designation, the designated developer’s stated desire to demolish the building will likely occur without requesting permission from the city’s Preservation Board. We understand that an agreement for a phased demolition of the building has been executed and may soon be implemented. It is also our understanding that no plans have been made for the immediate reuse of the site. We are disappointed that this decision has been made without the availability of a reuse study determining the feasibility of a historic preservation rehab of the building. Preservation Buffalo Niagara feels strongly that expending the time and resources to determine ways to preserve historic buildings in our community should be a priority when deciding the future of such buildings. Furthermore, we believe that a larger community discussion regarding decisions of this nature is required given the designated developer’s standing in the community as well as the historic significance of the Trico Plant #1 Building.
 
We wish that we would have had the opportunity to participate earlier in the discussions so that we could have provided access to such information before the decision for demolition was made. We continue to offer our assistance to provide education to the BNMC and any other building owner regarding preservation and preservation related matters such as historic preservation reuse studies.

That statement, by the way, marks Tom Yots’s first public action as PBN’s new executive director. More on this issue tomorrow and in Thursday’s paper.

UPDATE: We’re still waiting to hear from Matt Enstice, executive director of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, but the Campaign for Greater Buffalo History, Architecture and Culture has just released this statement:

The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, in concert with the Buffalo Urban Development Corporation, chaired by Mayor Byron Brown, is proposing a demolition schedule for the huge and iconic Trico Plant Number 1, which occupies almost two square blocks on the northern edge of downtown. BUDC and the BNMC propose to start demolition in mid-April, internal documents show. Public records show the building is owned by BUDC.  The Campaign for Greater Buffalo strenuously opposes any demolition of the National Register-listed building, and will pursue all means to preserve the landmark.

Trico Plant No. 1. has a great deal of meaning for thousands of Western New Yorkers, those who worked there and their children, many of whom owe their college educations and careers to the generosity of Trico founder John Oishei. It occupies a full city block and more at a strategic location between downtown, the Fruitbelt, the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, (BNMC)  and Allentown.

As such, the building could serve as a catalyst for physical and social renewal. Instead, while BUDC has been a terrible steward of the building. Rather than rehabilitate it like similar buildings across the street and across the city, BUDC and BNMC decided under the previous administration that, for their purposes, the building should be demolished and become a parking lot pending possible development. The building, where work had begun to transform it into a multi-use complex featuring condominiums, had several bidders at an auction upon the death of the previous owner. BUDC ended up with it, for the sole purpose of facilitating its demolishing . It has made no attempt to repair or maintain the building despite pre-purchase knowledge of conditions.

The proposal for demolition beginning on April 15th is absurd and illegal. No public notices have been issued, and no required communication, let alone an application for demolition, has been made to the Preservation Board, which would require a public hearing. We urge the mayor, Common Council, and all elected representatives to put a stop to this immediately and to put the building on the road to rehabilitation in a way that serves not only the BNMC, but the adjacent residential neighborhoods and downtown businesses. What the city needs is a building that integrates itself into the fabric of the community and strengthens it, not another gaping hole in that fabric.

The building is structurally sound and is in no danger of collapse.  It is a strong building that can endure.  The building could easily be converted to new uses that would benefit the community and the owners. Many similar factory buildings in Buffalo, and elsewhere, have been adapted for other purposes, like the Trico plant on Main Street that is now the Tri-Main Center, the Larkin at Exchange building, 79 Perry Street in the Cobblestone District, and, indeed, the M. Wile Building directly across Washington Street.

In addition, as the building is on the National Register and meets many criteria for local listing as well, any project the adversely effects the building would require a full Environmental Impact Statement under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. Similarly, if there is any Federal funding or regulatory action involved, a demolition project would require review under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. It would also have to be in compliance with the National Environmental Protection Act. Finally, if any state funding is involved, or any action by a state agency, a review by the State historic preservation officer, under the New York State Historic Preservation Act, is necessary.

 

Tim Tielman of the Campaign for a Greater Buffalo sends this update:

The EPA escorted all employees of Ontario Specialty Contracting (OSC) off
the premises yesterday on suspicion of asbestos violations regarding the
demolition of the Wheeler Elevator and marine tower.

It can be expected that the NYS Dept. of Labor will follow, to investigate
potential worker safety violations.

OSC testified to the Buffalo Preservation Board last year, and in State
Supreme Court this March, that it sought demolition of the historic Wheeler
Elevator and adjacent feed mill to protect its workers. Now it is being
investigated for disregarding its workers' health and safety in the act of
demolition itself.

David Torke of  Fix Buffalo sent in this photograph, taken yesterday of the recommenced demolition of the GLF grain elevators by Ontario Specialty Contracting:

TEDxBuffalo presents No Permission Necessary

Tuesday, October 11

With a long roster of big-name speakers such as Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking, and even an African Grey by the name of Einstein the Parrot, the TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conferences have become somewhat of a global cultural icon. Their objective to inspire and empower is aptly represented in their slogan: “ideas worth spreading.” Now, under the banner of “No Permission Necessary” the Montante Cultural Center at Canisius College will host the first-ever TedxBuffalo conference, a local, independently organized offshoot of the original TED talks, on Tuesday (Oct 11). With speakers from various disciplines including small-scale business, smartphone app technology, environmental technology, and even artisanal dairy farming, the nonprofit event covers an impressive range of real-world out-of-the-box thinking. Approximately 100 invited participants will attend in person, with satellite viewing parties to take place free of charge at various establishments throughout Western New York. If you weren’t invited, don’t worry the event will be streamed online free of charge at www.tedxbuffalo.com, where a full list of speakers is also available to viewers. —max soeun kim

8:30am-4:30pm. Montante Cultural Center, 2001 Main Street (www.tedxbuffalo.com). Free.

Check out the TEDxBuffalo trailer below