Time to demolish the AM&A's building?

   The future of the languishing, former AM&As department store in downtown
Buffalo should be clearer in the next two months as city lawyers and the
Buffalo Housing Court put pressure on its owners to produce repair plans.

   Out-of-town owners New Horizons Acquisitions LLC were slapped with building
code violations a year ago and both the court and the city have run out of
patience on the fix-ups, and on the developer's promises to convert the
property to a mix of apartments, offices and retail.

   The downtown retail landmark last saw activity in 1999 under former owner
Richard Taylor. Will pressure on the new owner change the building's fate? Is
conversion of the 400,000-square-foot complex doable? Or is it time to revisit
the idea of demolition to create a prime downtown development site?

-- Sharon Linstedt

Comments

[Eric]

It's time to consider demolition when downtown's surface parking and empty lots have all been built on, and when there is a new, real proposal for a new, real building. I can point to many other places that should become "shovel-ready" before this one - this is an historic building that is worth keeping around empty until the right redevelopment plan comes along.

[duque]

Only on the developer's dime and if they commit to saving the Washington Street facades and have plans to build on the site. We don't need another surface parking lot and pay shanty on Main Street.

[Eric]

The Main Street facade is just as important, as one of the only transitional modernist buildings in Buffalo. The materials and proportions are quite beautiful.

[Michael DiPasquale]

There is no reason to even discuss demolition of AM&A's.
The mere fact that the question is being asked shows a bias in the reporting on this subject.
Why not ask "How can it be saved?"

Demolishing such a landmark would not just be destroying an important part of our history, but it is a waste of energy and resources. All of that debris will have to be shipped to a landfill somewhere, and eventually replaced with new materials. Let's try to be progressive here.

The building is actually quite sound. This has been stated over and over by the city, and engineers. Indeed, the city wants the building saved. So why are we talking about taking it down? In the right hands AM&A's could be turned into a great development.

We have enough "shovel ready" sites. I don't see them attracting much interest. This would leave us with a big hole in the ground.

The demolition argument is one born from cynicism. The thinking that nothing good will come from this building. That's why Detroit took down its magnificent Hudsons Department Store. We're not Detroit.
Let's be optimists, and plan for the renewed future of AM&A's.

[GREG]

NO

[RB66]

How about some affordable condos?

[Glenn]

NO.
Any developer must have a plan or else the must sell. This city has lost too many salvagable structure due to neglect. Look at the Webb, it could have been a parking lot.This city really needs to get some b_lls.

[BuffaloNews]

NO! Absolutely Not! Buffalo has destroyed enough of its beautiful historic buildings. Lets follow the lead of other cities and renovate our old buildings.

Half of downtown is a parking lot. We've razed too many buildings. If we want to build a new building, let build it on one of those many parking lots.

[Jay]

By all means raze this building and put in its place a brand new one! No ONE is going to buy an old, outdated, outfitted hulk from the past that is a mix match of different boxes.

I do agree NO NEW parking lots are needed downt there. There are too many now!

[sbrof]

when 50% of downtown is already a shovel ready site. We should really think twice before knocking something down that doesn't have to. This building should be repaired and sealed and wait for development to come. If the new development wants to building a new building on the site, so be it. demolishing without definite plans should be considered illegal.

[ron stevens]

Wait for development to come? Are you crazy? Not in your lifetime will there be any substancial development in downtown Buffalo. Move down South if you want development.

[Kennedy-Dodd Waitress Sandwich]

Did somebody call that building "historic"?

No, it's OLD! O-L-D!

Not that there's anything wrong with that in general, but it's obvious that nobody wants to make a financially viable use of it. It's just being flipped, re-flipped, and re-re-flipped. Meanwhile it's falling apart.

At this point it's a historic mess.

Time to say goodnight AM&As.

[Kennedy-Dodd Waitress Sandwich]

Think twice????

People have been thinking about it at least ten times!!!

Did you just get to town here sbof?

It won't be a parking lot. Somebody will build something there. It's a prime location, or as prime as it gets here at least.

Worst case scenario, a Tim Horton's with drive thru once car traffic is back on Main St. I kid, I kid. But really somebody will build something there once it's out of the way. We've been more than patient. Too patient.

[The Sicilian]

There are plenty of misfit buildings that could easily be bulldozed before even considering the AM&A’s building. Heading up the list is the City Court building in Niagara Square, the concrete Adam’s Mark Hotel, and the sand colored WNED building next to it. But lets stay in the neighborhood and annihilate the Main Place Mall and Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. Woops! I almost forgot the Greyhound Bus Terminal.

The point is, the architecture of yesteryear has more character and structural integrity than the bland, modern structures could ever have. Which is not to say that the AM&A’s building, designed by Starrett and Van Vleck in 1935, along with the 1948 addition that extended the building up and around to Washington St. in the rear, is loaded with exterior character itself. Built in the International Style, it omitted any ornamental and decorative details in the eaves and cornices and around windows. Cubic shapes with smooth facades dominated this style in its day. This building will not disappoint the International Style enthusiasts of which I am not one.

Tucked neatly in the rear, facing Washington St., are three facades that just sneak in and steal the show. That one block stretch of Washington St. between Clinton and East Eagle is a stroll thru commercial late nineteenth to early twentieth century Buffalo as you will ever encounter. The lack of sunlight instills a damp, musty feel that just lingers on both sides of the street between these tightly packed vertical edifices that just dominate this block. The lone opening is a surface lot that allows the claustrophobic vibes to escape in a mad dash.

Those three facades, the southern one of Esenwein and Johnson fame completed in 1909, and the northern two designed by E.B. Green and William Wicks completed in 1892 and 1896 respectively, stand proudly next to that gorgeous Brisbane building from the M.E. Beebe drawing board in 1895. Louise Blanchard Bethune’s elegant Lafayette Hotel occupied a third of the east side of Washington St. in 1904 at the corner of Clinton St. Two more buildings by August Esenwein and James A. Johnson stand on the southeast side of Washington St. directly across from the AM&A’s building and adjoining facades.

Now that we have a little background information, I must say that I cannot envision this block devoid of any of these structures. The only prime real estate are the bricks and mortar cemented to it. To disturb any of the facades along Washington St. would be a travesty and injustice to the historic character and fabric of the block. The hard part is the maintenance and preservation of the structure. Waiting for development is the easy part. It is the path of least resistance.