To some, a significant financial investment in downtown Buffalo would be characterized as a serious financial risk.
Others see it as an opportunity for rebirth.
When Scott Fisher and famed recording artist Ani DiFranco first proposed the idea of transforming the 1876 Asbury Delaware United Methodist Church at Delaware Avenue and Tupper Street into a multi-use event center, the abandoned and dilapidated building was boarded up and about to be demolished. The duo refused to turn a deaf ear on the landmark.
Today, The Church, as it is known, is a state of the art complex featuring a 1,200 person hall, the Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, a furnished social area in its basement and much, much more.
Earlier this week, this visual and performing arts center and social venue became the home of DiFranco's record publishing company, Righteous Babe Records. Righteous Babe not only produces DiFranco's work, but that of many others, including Ed Hamell's latest hit CD, Songs for Parents Who Enjoy Drugs.
It might not be much, in the grand scheme of a city many consider to be in despair, but it's a good sign and a good start.
Kudos to DiFranco and Fisher for having the vision to transform this architectural masterpiece into a premiere event center from its former abandoned self rather than letting it be destroyed.
It is their shared entrepreneurial spirit that means so much to Buffalo; without continued support of the Queen City like theirs, progress will inevitably be stifled.
Pollution is a problem
An unprecedented world summit of 500 leading scientists are meeting in Paris to determine once and for all whether the effects of industry since 1950 are to blame for the unusual weather patterns and phenomena occurring around the globe.
The group also intends to provide a long-range projection of global changes that may occur should action not be taken to curb the depletion of the ozone layer. The report is to be released on Friday.
Congressional officials in both the House and the Senate also addressed the issue of global warming today.
While it is a tremendous relief to see that the issue of global warming is finally being addressed on a global scale, is this really what it takes to draw attention to the problem of pollution?
A global warming factor or not, pollution is a serious problem in our world today.
NASA scientists and even ex-members of the Bush administration testified before Congressional panels on Tuesday, claiming that administrative officials had edited scientific reports to downplay the tremendous threat of global warming.
While most Republicans and Democrats expressed concern, there were still some cynics who characterize global warming as nothing more than a myth.
When former US Climate Change Science Program official Rick Piltz was asked before a Congressional panel why his superiors demanded that specific scientific details be removed from an official government report on global warming, he stated that he was told that the details were simply "speculative musing."
Is nothing sacred?
How egregiously foolish are our government officials that they will sit waiting to find out whether or not something is a factor of global warming before taking serious action.
Friday we find out if pollution is a problem in regard to global warming. Today we already know that pollution is a problem in regard to our environment.
Don't wait to take action.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
