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Thoughtful Preservation

Nowak effort could spark orderly method of dealing with architectural heritage issues

Buffalo News 6/9/2005

If it takes judicial pressure to get Buffalo's disparate preservation forces to work together in a proactive effort to save the city's historic architecture, so be it.

City Housing Court Judge Henry Nowak, a jurist who already has made his mark on city planning and preservation, is convening a new Neighborhood Preservation Collaborative to swap the typical stop-the-bulldozers reaction to demolition threats with a reasoned and coordinated effort to assess the city's treasures and figure out the best ways to deal with them. It's a voluntary effort by all concerned, but the judge is using the prestige of his office and his record to make it work.

The collaborative - and Nowak stresses that word - will hold its first meeting at 7 p.m. today in City Hall's Common Council Chambers, and everyone is invited. To start, Nowak has crafted a carefully thought-out committee structure and matched those jobs with the talents of some uniquely qualified interim chairmen.

This could be a watershed moment for a city that has suffered from the lack of an overall preservation plan and a fragmented preservation community, including at least three citywide or regional preservation groups that haven't always worked well together. Nowak's informal collaborative effort can bring them all under one tent. For too long, preservation issues largely have been dealt with either by the city Preservation Board addressing zoning and variance requests at the start of the preservation process or by Nowak's Housing Court that handles end-of-the-line issues of structural problems and demolitions.

Much of the strength in Nowak's idea lies in his comprehensive look at the preservation process, a key element in any city's effort to not only preserve its treasures but incorporate its heritage into plans for the future. It took years to develop a preservation policy, no surprise in a city still working toward a comprehensive master plan. While there has been hope for comprehensive surveys springing from pilot projects done in selected neighborhoods by local architect Clinton Brown's firm for the Preservation Board, a much wider effort is needed.

Nowak sees a set of committees dealing with issues such as adaptive reuse, finding ways to help building owners fund heritage-saving restoration, salvaging key architectural elements from homes about to be demolished and a committee to research and evaluate preservation initiatives in other cities.

Scot Fisher, who has led the effort to restore a Delaware Avenue church for singer Ani DiFranco's studio, would lead an evaluation and inspection committee. And leaders of major preservation groups - Richard Lippes of the Preservation Coalition, Dennis Galucki of the Landmark Society and Tim Tielman of the Campaign for Greater Buffalo History, Architecture and Culture - would lead committees for legal and professional research, tourism and educational marketing and development and neighborhood awareness.

"It's so tough to be proactive, because it really takes a lot of work if you're on your own," the judge said.

Nowak hopes the work will assist the Preservation Board, unite preservation interests, post real accomplishments and "pretty much eliminate the whole notion of demolition by neglect in this area." It's a tall order, but a good start.