eliz - Since the protesters who helped save it impacted some people on the "sidelines" to use your word - some nearby neighbors and all city taxpayers who paid some costs to help save it (which I hope were recovered from the previous or new owners), this is open to sideline coaching from anyone - especially city residents. I feel I actually helped enough as a taxpayer and resident.

If your comment is saying everything possible was done to publicize and find a savior proactively, and it just couldn't happen until when it happened, then I'll accept your word about it. Maybe Savarino knew about the building all along but didn't decide to buy it until the dangers and protests were under way, neighbors were forcibly moved, all that. If you're saying for this one that everything proactively happened that reasonably could have, I'll believe you 100% no questions asked.

But if you're also saying that for every doomed saviorless building which most Buffalonians (and maybe potential saviors) never even heard of until a last minute emergency comes along... that everything possible is done proactively to publicize, prioritize, and try to find a savior for all of those buildings in Buffalo... well, if you're saying that, then I withdraw my crazy well-intentioned suggestion from earlier.

When your nice Spree magazine or its blog publishes critiques about a play or restaurant or public issue, I wonder if that's also "coaching from the sidelines". It is, but that's probably different for some reason.

Please tell me that douche (Freudenheim?) who let the thing fall apart isn't making a profit on this.

A month of work by a relative handful of folks meant the difference between a vacant lot and a $3.4 million investment in the neighborhood. That's a win.

Another fine example of public interest and activism resulting in a positive outcome saving the rich architectural heritage in Buffalo!

ATWATER The people that moved out of their houses are the same people that filed suit.

many neighbors proactively fought to secure this building for years. The problem is No one is city government listens until bricks hit the ground. This wasn't a last minute save for those fighting for years to save it. There are probably a half dozen other fights going on right now, trying to be proactive.

The question isn't how to get people involved proactively, it is how can we get our government to listen to them and act before it becomes a last minute emergency.

BRLifer - If you read what I wrote - the actual words, you'll see it wasn't dismissive and I was offering well intended suggestions. If it offends them because they infer I'm criticizing every single person involved, I can't control that. I don't think it should offend anyone who reads it carefully. They might disagree and say they're always already as proactive as possible all across the city, or that my example suggestion sucks, or whatever - but what I wrote wasn't dismissive.

I don't mind if some old buildings are saved, within reason. But they way I look at it, for the most part (leaving aside Guaranty, Sheas, Richardson, Larkin, etc.) - for most other ordinary old buildings, the decisions should be made on the assumption Buffalo will have the number of people here today, or fewer. That doesn't mean knock down all buildings, but it means prioritize and accept some shrinkage as reality. I think most preservationsists agree with that reality to some extent, but with your comment above about "presently" in caps, I wonder if you do.

Maybe the Livery deserved priority. I never said it didn't - that wasn't my point at all. Even back then I never said knock it down as some others probably did. But when that episode happened and neighbors were forced to move while this went through courts and taxpayer money was involved - yeah I think that raises legitimate public questions. I worded them as questions, not attacks.

You'll also noticed in my first comment above, I wished best of success to this Livery preservation project. That's not being dismissive.

Atwater- Preservation is not just the articles on BRO but is being practiced each day all over the city by countless unrecognized citizens just trying to improve their little piece of the world. Preservation is respect for history, for place, and taking pride in home and community. Your comments seem dismissive of all preservationists as if this large and diverse group somehow act as one.

Buffalo has a vast inventory of quality structures that need to be preserved for the future of the city. It is unfortunate that we PRESENTLY have more structures than demand can accomodate. That does not mean we should demolish the one asset we have that is both finite and unique. Preservation is a long term investment not given to the instant gratification demanded by so many. Patience and a sense of history while looking to the future are key to the success of our city.

Things are really starting to come around on the west side....just if the EV did not block The Gap from coming to Buffalo.

Forget the Gap, how about a Zara or H&M or Banana Republic? One of each on Elmwood and Main Street Downtown would be a step up.

Best of success to Savarino on this project.

Looking to the future, where's the proactive list of what people who feel this is very important say are the next 10 or 20 "Old buildings in Buffalo that must-*** be saved"?

Is there a list like that with saviors being actively recruited ahead of time?

Or will it just be decided as a panic emergency at the last possible minute?

(*** - even if some neighbors are forced to move away from their homes while other people file a lawsuit as happened for the Livery)

I meant to say peace and stability, but anyway...

What happened to the house on the right in the architect's design?

wnynot- the adjacent house is removed in the rendering to fully show the Livery. Artistic license if you will. The actually home will remain.

Take that, naysayers!

And I bet there's still some folks who believed the few months of inconvenience wasn't worth it...

sbrof - The government can listen all they want, but if there's not a willing and able new owner from the private sector then all the listening in the world won't help much.

Was Savarino's involvement initiated by City Hall contacting them or the protest groups contacting them? I don't know for sure sure but from news reports at the time I thought maybe it was the protest groups who got Savarino involved. Maybe Colin knows.

That's one thing I was suggesting should be more proactive - finding, contacting, and convincing willing saviors if there are any - well before last minute emergencies happen. I don't think savior finding efforts should have to be left totally to City Hall. If they are, it leads to a lot of disappointment.

About the half dozen other current fights you mention, my suggestion for proactive coordination could be an up to date list on some centralized web site for those relevant parties to know what they are (different government entities, potential saviors anywhere, etc.).

Steel's implication that all neighbors who had to move are the same who filed suit is wrong. Some participated in the suit, others didn't and wanted the whole thing over. At least 3 elderly had to relocate while this dragged on, including one to a nursing home with great hardship. Steel should refresh his memory, admit his mistake, and apologize for wrong info in his comment.

From http://artvoice.com/issues/v7n25/letters_to_artvoice

'... Last week six residents adjacent to the historic 1800s White Bros. Livery and Boarding Stable at 428-430 Jersey St were evacuated from their homes ... . Among those displaced are two elderly citizens taken refuge at the Holiday Inn, and one elderly woman whose family was forced to place her indefinitely in a nursing home. ...'

My comment wasn't arguing what happened in the past. It asks about proactively avoiding future last-minute emergencies.

Great rehab considering the situation. now if only we could get the city to act BEFORE the bricks start falling down. This was a fight for year with no action from city hall until the 11th hour.

Are they seriously tearing down property on the right side for parking? Come on, how ironic that would be to say they are saving a building just to tear another one down. How typical that would be.

eliz - I'd never insist you accept any comparison. But it doesn't seem a stretch to me. There are similarities. And you're welcome. The magazine is nice.

My suggestion didn't imply there isn't volunteer hard work going on, and wasn't limited to your group. If savior-seeking is already as proactive as it can practically be for these buildings across Buffalo, then yes my suggestion was useless if that's what you're saying. Go figure - a useless suggestion about something in a blog comment.

Here on the sidelines, I'd think something mentioned in my first comment for a well publicized, centralized web site listing the most important of these buildings across the city, a page for each, maybe with lists prioritizing based on urgency, size, cost level, etc - including contact info, a map display, etc., - and keeping it up-to-date - might be a way to improve savior-finding. Maybe savebuffalobuildings.org or something (I just made up that name - not a real site). An RSS feed of course would be good so people interested in keeping up with these things could subscribe.

People who care about this stuff might browse the site every so often and email a link to a particular building's page to a developer they think might have interest - or maybe not always a developer but sometimes a business owner or executive might have interest but not keep up with these things at all. Maybe a simple site like that could improve proactiveness and supplement the emergency type posting on general blogs.

If I asked now what are the 10 or 20 most urgent and important buildings city-wide that need a savior according to local preservation consensus, is it easy to find that answer online? Maybe it is. Or maybe you'll say it would never make any difference because volunteers already work hard and already do everything that makes sense to do. I never heard of this Livery building before the news reports when all this happened. I'm sure I saw it but never gave it a second thought. It didn't matter that I never heard of it because I wasn't going to save it and don't know anyone who would..... but maybe sometimes it might matter who doesn't know about something.

How about rebuilding the side wall with cinder block covered with an outside facade layer made out of the historic brick that they salvage from the demo?

I feel sorry for the neighbors, I am sure that they cannot wait for peace and quiet to return to the neighborhood.

MEC- it is 12 apartments, I had it wrong. Sorry about that. I changed the text. It is six units on both the second and third floors.

The Buffalo Snooze has it listed at $100 per SQFT, what a bunch of morons.....I know rents are going up in the city, but $80,000 a month for an 800 SQFt apartment would be ridiculous!

Who proofs their articles over there? They also say 12 apartments, which I thought was a lot for only having 2 floors of space...