While ADM whacks away at the Great Northern Elevator on Ganson Street, the City is (finally) taking steps to prevent a similar fate for the nearby historic Blacksmith Shops in the Cobblestone District. Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown has invoked eminent domain powers in an effort to obtain and save two historic properties from further neglect and disrepair. The properties located at 110 and 118 South Park Avenue have been in and out of housing court for years.
The City has been pushing owner Darryl Carr to repair the properties for more than a decade. Despite these efforts, the buildings continue to deteriorate causing health, welfare and safety issues for the area residents and visitors.
The eminent domain process starts today with a resolution drafted by the Brown Administration and sponsored by Councilman Mitch Nowakowski calling for a public hearing on the matter. Once the eminent domain procedure is completed, the City will work to better secure the structures’ fate and restoration.
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.
The post City Pursues Eminent Domain for Cobblestone Buildings appeared first on Buffalo Rising.