The other evening I happened to run into Mike Higgins, former fireboat captain of the Edward Cotter, and he shared with me a vision of what The Cotter home could some day look like. It seems as if there is a big push to build an appropriate home for one of Buffalo’s greatest treasures. The historically designated, century old Cotter fire-boat, is the oldest operational fireboat in the world. It has battled fires on the Lake Erie shores for over a hundred, and in that time it has been put through the ringer.
This boat has gone through name changes, retirement issues, paint jobs, enormous amounts of damage, victories, and even changes in living quarters (see photo). Proponents of the fireboat have painstakingly researched the history of the vessel in order to show that this boat, which still services Buffalo, deserves a home that suits its character. I spoke with Vincent Benbenek who is a member of Friends of The Cotter, and this is what he told me has to happen to see this vision unfold:
“At this point it is going to take a huge amount of fundraising. We’re working out a lease agreement with The City. Half of the people in Buffalo don’t know that the boat is back there. We want to spruce up the current Engine 20 firehouse… we would have an interpretive type of display to establish a makeshift museum. We need to tell people The Cotter story. The City looks like its digging in its heals a bit… we’re trying to get decision makers to sit down to a meeting. We need something drafted between Friends of The Cotter and The City. We need to know that the boat will stay there. In order to get funders on board with future plans, we must take the boat out for fundraising purposes and some people don’t like that. We have larger donors waiting in the wings who want to support this project; we are waiting for the negotiations to move forward. There is going to be a fundraiser in September… we’ll keep your readers informed on the date.”
The home of The Cotter should be a meeting place, a gathering place, an interpretive center… where people learn about the history of the boat and its importance to Buffalo. The Cotter and its surroundings act as a wonderful bridge between the future Festival Park, the DL&W Terminal, the Cobblestone District and the entire Inner Harbor. It’s too important to let it get tied up in political squabbles. Isn’t it supposed to be what’s best for the city… what’s best for the people? Just think about what the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation has done for the Central Terminal… this same concept could (and should) work here.