Neglect and City incompetence may pay off. Ineffective Housing Court Judge Patrick Carney approved an emergency demolition of 110 and 118 South Park Avenue today saying the properties were a danger to the public. The City has said it will appeal the decision. The two properties, owned by Daryll Carr since 2003 and 2008, have been in and out of housing court for years. Late last year the City took the first steps to eminent domain the buildings in order to get them secured and eventually redeveloped.
An end-of-year storm caused portions of the rear of the buildings to collapse, kicking-off a new set of hearings to decide the future of the two properties. From The Buffalo News:
Carney said he was swayed by recent photographs showing new damage to the properties, heightening his concern of further collapses of portions of the structures.
“I spent 14 years trying to salvage these buildings, and could not find an avenue to do it,” Carney said.
“It’s a relief to actually get a judgment and be able to move on in some type of way with this process,” Carr said.
In September, Mayor Byron W. Brown invoked eminent domain powers in an effort to obtain and save the two historic properties. Carr reportedly wants the buildings demolished to construct a high-rise hotel on the site. Many people believe he is only interested in adding parking to the already parking-saturated district. Carr has continuously snubbed his nose at the City, the public, and Judge Carney.
The properties are the most iconic and most historically significant structures in the Cobblestone Historic District which was established in 1993 by the Buffalo Preservation Board and certified by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting the federal standards for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. 110 South Park originally housed Muggeridge’s Steam Bakery which made hardtack for the Union army during the civil war. As late as the mid-nineties, 118 South Park was home to Rudnicki’s blacksmith shop.
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