The Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority (BMHA) has voted to negotiate
with M&T Bank for a $3.5 million bridge loan to ensure that the demolition
of Kensington Heights can continue through the winter and within EPA
guidelines. Two of the six buildings have already been demolished and the loan
from M&T would supplement the remaining $3.3 million in state funds to demolish
the remaining buildings, which are filled with asbestos.
Demolition of the complex began in May and two of the towers
have already come down and the soil around them has been remediated. The
remaining buildings await demolition and are wrapped in double-ply polyurethane
to contain all the asbestos materials.
slated for total demolition over winter and demolition of another building
would be started. The BMHA anticipates securing the funding by next spring to
demolish the remaining buildings and finish the remediation work of the site. An
eight-foot high security fence secures the site and security patrols between
8am to 4pm, seven days a week to ensure there are no trespassers.
The $3.3 million remains from a $5 million New York State
Dormitory Authority grant to conduct the work. Under the EPA’s plan, an
additional $5 million to $10 million will be needed to complete the project and
demolish the other four buildings.
Kensington Towers was built in 1958 and has been vacant
since 1980. It was built as a federal and state development with sixty-seven
units per building and some common area space. Many parallels can be drawn
between the development and the failure of the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex in
St. Louis. Built in a similar fashion, Pruitt-Igoe was erected in 1954 as an
urban renewal and slum clearance project. Although it was initially successful,
the development failed for a number of reasons and was demolished in in the
mid-1970s.