Priority #1 in citizens’ vote: Save Central Terminal Wishes made known
at Fillmore District ‘summit’
By Scott Field
Erie County Preservation Coalition, February 1996
The last of the Buffalo neighborhood summits would have been the usual story–concerns
about crime, trash, teenagers, drugs, snowplowing, schools–but Fillmore
District residents, at their January 17th summit, in the end rallied around
a preservation project as their number one priority.
The summit already has had a benefit for Fillmore District residents: On January 20, a long-delayed contract for a study of the Central Terminal was delivered to the Polish Community Center, which is coordinating the study. The funds had languished on former Community Development Commissioner Daniel Bicz’s desk for months. Newly appointed Commissioner Alan Delisle, in attendance at the meeting, forwarded the contracts with dispatch.
The summit started off in the customary fashion, with statements by the District Councilmember (in this case, David Franczyk) and Mayor Masiello. Next a facilitator elicited comments from attendees to speak briefly about anything of concern to them relative to the district. (Brief turned out to a relative term for some people).
The Preservation Coalition made a statement “on behalf of the three dozen Coalition members who live in the Fillmore District as well as the entire Coalition membership throughout Erie County. We feel the city should use all means of funding–federal, state, and local–to see that the Fillmore District’s grand monument is stabilized, restored, and rejuvenated. Perhaps not all at once, maybe a small piece at a time, but it would behoove the city to start the work of saving this magnificent building.”
After a break and a presentation on community policing, the floor was opened
to questions for the assembled city officials. Following the Q&A, attendees
were given stickers to place next to their priorities for the district, which
were gleaned from the opening ‘gripe session’ and posted on worksheets.
When the people were done sticking, restoration of Central Terminal topped the
list. It wasn’t even close.