(rshsdepot) Buffalo, NY: Central Terminal

[jdent1_@_optonline.net]

From the Buffalo News..

A saving grace 
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State group makes Central Terminal a priority

By MARK SOMMER 
News Staff Reporter
11/21/2003 

The Central Terminal railroad station caught the public's eye last summer when an estimated 10,000 paraded through the 1929 art deco cathedral on visitor tours. Now the Preservation League of New York State has taken notice of the long-vacant building. It has named the 17-story Central Terminal as one of its "Seven to Save," the group's annual list of New York's most threatened historic places. 

"The Central Terminal is of outstanding historic and architectural significance," Tania Werbizky, the league's director of technical and grant programs, said while standing in the station's cavernous concourse. 

"By placing a historic property on this list, we are saying it is worthy of special attention, extra effort and new resources to secure its future." 

The designation is the second given in the Buffalo Niagara region, after the former Niagara Falls High School several years ago. It helps bring landmarks and the efforts to save them greater visibility, which can lead to new funding, Werbizky said. 

Russell Pawlak, president of Central Terminal Restoration Corp., which has been involved over the past several years in restoring the building, appreciated the attention. 

"It gives us a lot of focus, builds the momentum and shows all the recent efforts haven't gone unnoticed," Pawlak said. "It leads us on a path to bigger and better things next year." 

County Executive Joel A. Giambra praised the all-volunteer group, saying a $1 million county grant given to clean up debris and seal the building had been well spent. 

"Last year there was ice on the floor, there was debris, and it smelled. Now it actually looks like a real building again," Giambra said. 

He said he disagreed with those who believe it's too expensive to return the train station to use. He said that was said of the Connecticut Street Armory, which he fought to save as a Niagara District councilman, as well as Union Station in Washington, D.C. 

"When you go to Washington today, you realize how important Union Station is to our nation's vitality and what it means for tourism. This building," Giambra said of Central Terminal, "has similar potential." 

Fillmore Common Council member David A. Francyzk, who has long been involved in efforts to restore the station, said the added attention was a positive development for the restoration effort. 

"The building is on its way," Franczyk said. "One hundred years from now, people from around the world are going to thank us for saving this building. It's going to be a mecca and attraction for architectural enthusiasts the world wide." 

The building, which opened four months before the Wall Street crash of 1929, was designed by noted railroad architects Alfred Fellheimer and Steward Wagner. 
e-mail: msommer_@_buffnews.com




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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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