JustPretending

"Three or four years ago, Commissioner of Parks, Bernadette Castro, who is New York State’s Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), came to tour the H.H. Richardson Complex so she could report to the Governor on it. Accompanied by half a dozen state officials from the Offices of Parks and Mental Health, she was shown the central (Administration) building, and the ward directly to the east (this is the one that Flynn Battaglia rehabbed a couple decades ago for temporary office space when the high-rise building was being renovated.

It was clear to everyone that the outer buildings were in rough shape, but as the Commissioner was talking, it became apparent that she had no understanding of the history or significance of the complex, other than that it was an old building designed by a prominent architect. She started talking about how they could save the central building and the wing on each side, and let the rest go. In a move which probably didn’t ingratiate me to her, I opened my mouth and said that the importance of the property was all of its components, that three of the eastern wards had already been lost, and that the rest should certainly be preserved. This garnered me scowls.

When you get a reaction like that from a government official, you know that their minds are already made up, and they are just play-acting, laying the groundwork for what will later be their decision after their “fact-finding mission.”

About a year later, an architect from the National Park Service and I went on our own tour of the buildings. I wanted to know if a Save America’s Treasures grant or other federal funding could be obtained to help restore the buildings. He was dismayed at the condition of the place, and very concerned that the buildings were being allowed to continue to deteriorate. At that time, he felt it would cost around $300 million to fully rehabilitate the complex, and a viable use would have to be found to keep the place alive.Since then, I know that the Governor has poured money into masonry repairs and roofing, but the outer buildings are continuing to deteriorate at an alarming rate.

Security is a very serious issue – they cannot keep intruders out (the place is a popular urban orienteering or geocaching spot, and once the pros break in, the neighborhood kids follow to rip things off). It seems clear to me that the strategy of “save the center few buildings and let the rest go” is being allowed to play out.

I hear that Sam Hoyt will soon be presenting some news or a plan for the complex, and I wonder if he has been co-opted, too. He’s a nice guy and his heart is in the right place, but he is a government official, too, and wants to show progress. He has probably rationalized that saving a few of the buildings is better than losing them all. Why is that always the range of choices in Buffalo?

Pardon my ramblings, but I hope the true preservationists in Buffalo hold the state’s feet to the fire on this one. I mean it – the rest of the world will look at New York’s demolishing (either through neglect all these years or in one fell swoop) the outer wards of the Insane Asylum as akin to the demolition of the Larkin Office Building. WE KNOW BETTER NOW! But bureaucratic bungling has nearly destroyed this treasure, and it should be stopped."