In an open letter to Byron Brown, local preservationist Tim Tielman is urging the administration to halt the demolition of 204 Laurel Street, an unassuming house on the east side. The house is important because it was the home to famous jazz musician Elvin Shepherd. Western New York Minority Media Professionals is raising funds to buy the house and save it from demolition.
Dear Mayor Brown,
It has come to our attention that 204 Laurel Street, the longtime home of noted jazz musician Elvin Shepherd, is owned by the City of Buffalo and threatened with demolition. I visited the site and noted that asbestos abatement has occurred, gas has been cut off, and the house baited with rat poison. These are all signs of imminent demolition.
The Campaign for Greater Buffalo urges you not to demolish this house. As the home of Elvin Shepherd, it has great historical value for the City of Buffalo, and meets the standards for designation as a city landmark. As a trumpeter and saxophonist, Mr. Shepherd played with titans of American jazz, like Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. Davis and other notable musicians visited the house. Coincidentally, a number of pioneering African-Americans lived within a block of the house as well, making their marks in music, journalism, broadcasting, and law enforcement.
As a nineteenth-century cottage, the Shepherd house and its neighbors can be an affordable focus of a rehabilitation project to bring more pride, recognition, and increasing property values to the neighborhood. This would leverage the efforts the city and private citizens have recently made in the neighborhood. There are a group of neighbors on the street who have been there for 50 years who would like to see the house saved and rehabilitated.
We further urge you to transfer the house to WNY Minority Media Professionals Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, for the purposes of rehabilitation. This organization is keenly interested in preserving our heritage and educating the public and visitors about it. The Shepherd house could play a vital role in that mission.
The Campaign is eager to help in any way on this project. Please call me at 854-3749 if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Tim Tielman, Executive Director
The Campaign for Greater Buffalo
For background on the house and Shepherd: Shepherd House