Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Logo of The Spectrum
Friday, March 29, 2024
The independent student publication of The University at Buffalo, since 1950

Re-Using Buffalo

Students explore renovated historic buildings in Buffalo

The Academies introduced a group of 24 UB students to renovated historic buildings in Buffalo through the Buffalo Creative Re-Use tour. They visited sights like the Historic Buffalo Central Terminal and Central Park Plaza. Courtesy of Aylin Erdogan
The Academies introduced a group of 24 UB students to renovated historic buildings in Buffalo through the Buffalo Creative Re-Use tour. They visited sights like the Historic Buffalo Central Terminal and Central Park Plaza. Courtesy of Aylin Erdogan

On a rainy Sunday morning, 24 students on the Buffalo Creative Re-Use tour learned water bottles and cans are not the only items that can be recycled.

So can the buildings in Buffalo.

The Academies hosted the tour over the weekend to introduce students to the city of Buffalo and to discover renovated and vacant historic buildings. The goal was to provide students with insight on sustainability projects helping Buffalo become a better city.

The first part of the tour went from North Campus to downtown Buffalo. Barbara Bono, the academic director of civic engagement at The Academies and an associate professor of English, led the tour and talked about the history of Queen City buildings and neighborhoods.

The first stop in downtown Buffalo was the School of Architecture and Planning, where Robert Shibley, dean of the School of Architecture and Design, gave a presentation on why Buffalo is the second best designed city in the United States because of its extensive urban planning.

After the presentation, the group headed to D’youville College for lunch and then to Horsefeathers Markets for a tour of a 19th-century building, which was renovated into a brand-new, energy-efficient apartment building and marketplace.

Sushobhna Batra, a junior biochemistry and biological sciences major, went on the tour because she is interested in reconstruction projects. She observed the benefits of renovation projects in her hometown – the outskirts of Delhi, the capital of India.

She said after receiving complaints from residents, the mayor of her district initiated projects to modernize and improve the neighborhood by building shopping complexes, houses and studio apartments. The two empty parking lots that attracted crime rates in the neighborhood are now a three-story parking lot and a park.

The second part of the day was dedicated to a bus tour of the East and West neighborhoods of the city. The bus stopped at Larkin Square, a $2 million renovation public community space project and the Historic Buffalo Central Terminal that is currently undergoing a restoration process. The group also stopped by Central Park Plaza, described as a once a thriving area for commercial tenants that was deserted due to changing demographics and property. The property was bought last May in an effort to formulate a reuse plan for the area.

It was Zach Fluman’s, a sophomore pharmaceutical sciences major, second time participating a tour, but he said this time he got to discover new sites.

“[The] history of Buffalo and how it grew and recovered in the past years is certainly interesting to learn about,” Fluman said. “It’s also amazing how you can buy a house as cheap as a couple of thousands of dollars and design a new place out of it.”

At the end of the tour, students were divided into groups of what projects they would suggest for the neighborhoods they visited. These projects included building YMCA facilities for more education and training opportunities, which would benefit low income and minority residents and a hardware/tool house to gather and recycle all the materials from old or collapsed buildings for the East side of the city.

Batra said if she had funds for a project, she would choose to build a school at the East side of the city due to socio-economic characteristics of the neighborhood and how it negatively reflects on the success rate in City schools.

“It was shocking to hear some schools don’t enroll new students due to their low graduation rates,” she said.

Anna Blatto, a freshman undecided major, said as an inexperienced, but motivated entrepreneur, she would focus on projects in the West side. She feels professionals who helped improve the West side should handle the projects in the East side.

“East side is an area that has to be handled with care and due to its fragile nature,” Blatto said. “The work has to be done by those who gained experience in recreating West neighborhood. So, I am all for leaving the East to experts, take one step at a time and recreate a neighborhood step by step with success.”

She also has an interest in the Central Terminal and would enjoy getting involved in any project related with the restoration process of the historic site.

“More renovated buildings mean more tenants, improved neighborhoods and more business and it’s great for Buffalo,” Fluman said.

email: news@ubspectrum.com

Comments


Popular









Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2024 The Spectrum