The historic church at 375 Colvin in North Buffalo is currently being torn down. It was an unrealized city asset that is being hauled off to a dump as you read this. This unique piece of Buffalo is being thoughtlessly removed. No plan for reuse of this soon to be vacant land has been published by the owner . If the typical scenario is followed it will be nothing special, parking, an empty lot, or perhaps some cheap sprawl style infill covered in plastic and foam siding. If we are lucky the parking lot will be surrounded by sickly shrubs – you know “green space”. This demolition will add one more notch of mediocrity in a city which has been inexplicably striving to reach mediocrity for decades. Long term neglect of buildings is far too easily accepted in Buffalo. It is not something that should be accepted. It is not normal for a building to rot in plain sight to the point it has to be demolished. Empty lots and surface parking are too often looked on as progress. Removal of a unique asset is not progress. Parking lots are not progress. Old buildings are not what is holding Buffalo back. Bad decision making and lack of any plan of action is what is holding Buffalo back.
Local government and institutional leadership sit on their thumbs for decades waiting for fairy dust to make a difference. This demolition is not going to make Buffalo a better place. This demolition is making Buffalo a lesser place. Too much of Buffalo has been lost. Why is there not a concerted regional effort to assure that the degradation of Buffalo is stopped? Where its the plan? This church did not have to be lost. If this demolition is not making Buffalo better as a place why is it being done? Why will it be done at another site in the not too distant future, and another, and another?