There is not much more I can say about the short sighted destruction of the North Buffalo Church at 375 Colvin. Here is a bit of commentary that I gathered from around the web from others: From Bernice Radle’s blog:
Buffalo was built when craftsmanship and detail was at an all time high in our country and in result, we have a building stock that is unlike any other. A cornucopia of building types built inspired by several styles. This building is like a lot of them that are demolished… it’s built with three rows of brick, artisan detail in the woodwork from a profession that is no longer alive… arched windows that are no longer economically feasible to recreate and wood trusses that are made from old growth trees – a resource we have very little of these days. The buildings were built to last hundreds of years. They were built with pride, love and by ones who paid incredible attention to detail… something that we can no longer afford to built new today.
From Facebook: A commenter to a FB friend Sean Brodfurehrer stated – “Bottom line… Our city continues to look worse every year. The actual physical appearance of our city is getting worse. We lose far more than we gain. This is an example of a building that did not have to come down. Comerford and the mayor do NOTHING to keep our city looking nice.”
Another FB Friend states: Having lived on Colvin – 370, in fact – for most of my grammar school years, this building was a landmark for most of us kids. I can honestly say, and maybe some of you will understand this, that my eyes will hurt not seeing it there any longer.
From Buffalo Rising: in response to the claims the church was nothing special commenter Rand503 said -“The above comments prove a couple of things — familiarity breeds contempt, and we face an embarrassment of riches.
First, the comments show that when people live next to treasures for a long time, then no longer regard them as treasures. They are just “old buildings” of no value. I understand it takes a lot of effort to see things with a fresh pair of eyes, but that is what must be done.
The second point is that we indeed have a plethora of great churches and buildings in Buffalo. We are very lucky on that point. When you eat at a table laden with gold, silver looks just so mediocre. Nonetheless, it IS silver, and it’s a whole heck of a lot better than other cities have.
I just wish people could see it.”
From Preservation Buffalo Niagara: “North Buffalo has lost an important neighborhood landmark today, and it is PBN’s intent to pursue every available avenue in order to make the rehabilitation of our communities’ vacant religious spaces more of a reality than it was today.”
^The church being destroyed on Saturday
The church as it was a few years ago seen in the image below. Really quite simple and elegant. Damn Shame that it was destroyed. Damn shame.
^Photo Via Preservation Buffalo Niagara courtesy of Preservation Studios from the Spring of 2010, Interior of the
former North Park Baptist Church