Buffalo Rising Online

Oct 16th 2008, 11:49pm By RaChaCha

“This is a landmark day for preservation in Buffalo,” quipped Cynthia Van Ness, President of the Preservation Coalition of Erie County, about today’s planned vote by both her organization and the Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier to consolidate operations. The meeting will take place at the Karpeles Manuscript Library on North Street, itself a prime example of the preservation principle of adaptive reuse. The consolidated organization will be named Preservation Buffalo Niagara. The new organization intends to bring the energy and organizational experience of both its predecessors to bear on urgent preservation needs in both Erie and Niagara Counties—and hopes to boost preservation awareness and activity in the surrounding counties of the Niagara Frontier region, as well.

Cynthia put it this way:

"Well, first we had a baby (merging our tour programs and creating Buffalo Tours), then we moved in together (sharing an office at the Market Arcade) and now we're getting married! The board of the Coalition sat down with the board of Landmark and discovered that we could accomplish more together than apart. We found that our preservation philosophies, not just our approach to tours, were more alike than different. With the National Trust for Historic Preservation choosing Buffalo as the site of its 2011 national conference, not only did we get valuable experience from collaborating on the conference bid, but we realized that we really needed to improve our game for 2011, when 5,000 of the nation's opinion leaders in the field of preservation, architecture, and cultural tourism descend on Buffalo."

The consolidation discussions and planning have been underway since the beginning of the year. Advising both organizations through the process has been Henry McCartney, retired Director of the Landmark Society in nearby Rochester, an organization which has been in operation for over 70 years, owns several historic homes, and has about a dozen staff members. It has a history of well-run programs such as annual house tours; training for city, town, and village preservation board members; and a regional conference recognized as one of the best in the state. Henry has been involved in western New York before, when the Rochester organization assisted with the acquisition of the Roycroft Inn over a decade ago.

The Buffalo foundation community has played a major role in funding and facilitating the consolidation effort, with Catherine Schweitzer of the Baird Foundation playing an indispensable role, as well as Blythe Merrill of the Oishei Foundation. Blythe is a former Rochester resident and staff member of the Rochester Landmark Society. The seed funding from the foundations has already been put to use, for example, in this summer’s hiring of Fred Schrock as Education Coordinator for Buffalo Tours.

Planned for after the vote is a reception and joint celebration for members of both organizations. After the reception, members of the new board will meet together with representatives from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the State Historic Preservation Office, and the Preservation League of New York State. Harvey Garrett, a member of the Buffalo Preservation Board who has been involved with both organizations, told me, “we will talk about how we can maximize this opportunity to create a preservation organization like Buffalo’s never seen before. Everyone needs to understand their responsibilities.”

According to Harvey and Cynthia, the new organization will have its work cut out. In addition to playing a key role in preparing for the 2011 conference, several longstanding preservation issues need to be addressed, including conducting more historic resource surveys (Rochester was fully surveyed in the 1980’s, Buffalo has not been), and bringing more preservation attention to Buffalo’s east side. A common thread through the discussions was the need for the new organization to get out in front of preservation issues and be proactive, rather than reactive—which all too often results in bruising preservation battles with preservationists being labeled “obstructionists.”

The name of the new organization was chosen to give equal billing to the historic preservation needs and opportunities in Niagara County. The City of Lockport just passed, for the first time, a historic preservation ordinance, and an active preservation group has been working in the City of Niagara Falls.

According to coverage this morning in Buffalo Business First, board members of the new organization are expected to include a number of regional heavy hitters in historic preservation and preservation-oriented development, including CityView developer Doug Swift, Richardson Center Corporation board member Eva Hassett, and attorney Steven Weiss, who advised the organizations on the consolidation.

The area’s other major preservation organization, the Campaign For Greater Buffalo, will not be part of today’s consolidation, although several local preservationists have told me that they see an important ongoing role for the brand of spirited activism practiced by the Campaign—one calling the Campaign, “the conscience of the local preservation movement.” They have told me that they anticipate close cooperation, especially on the planning for the 2011 conference. Tim Tielman, Executive Director of the Campaign, agreed, telling me that he is wishing the consolidated organization well.

Preservation Buffalo Niagara will hold a press conference tomorrow (Friday October 17th) morning along with representatives from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the State Historic Preservation Office, and the Preservation League of New York State. Newly elected officers of Preservation Buffalo Niagara will be announced, along with several grant awards which will help support this new joint effort.

Get connected:
Preservation Coalition of Erie County
Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier
Karpeles Manuscript Library

Photo credit: Karpeles Manus