WEST SIDE
City plans restoration of stable on Jersey St.
City officials Saturday authorized a $397,000 contract to save the crumbling horse barn on Jersey Street, the historic structure whose falling bricks forced neighbors on nearby Summer Street to move out of their homes two weeks ago.
James Comerford, deputy commissioner of the city’s Department of Economic Development, Permits and Inspections, said he told Empire Building Diagnostics of Depew to be on the job Monday morning.
“We want them to stabilize the front facade, the side and rear walls,” Comerford said. “We want to save the building.”
Comerford said the city’s law department is preparing legal papers to force building owner Robert Freudenheim to pay for the work.
The city had earlier authorized demolition because of safety concerns and then a partial demolition while options were studied after neighbors protested.
Timothy Tielman, a preservationist who lives in the neighborhood, was delighted by the city’s about-face.
“This is great news. We’re moving in the right direction,” said Tielman, executive director of Campaign for Buffalo History, Architecture and Culture.
Tielman said he and the neighbors who fought to preserve the building have questions about the scope of the contract.
Rather than trying to save as much of the 39-foot-high rear wall as possible, Tielman said, preliminary sketches show the city plans to save a 12-foot-high wall around the building.
That’s important, he said, to ensure the building footprint remains, but he said neighbors are looking to save at least the first two floors.
Tielman said preserving the footprint of the building is important because the stable could never be built in the same location with modern zoning laws and setback requirements.
Comerford said the action was taken after he, Mayor Byron W. Brown and other city officials discussed the options for the 119-year-old former stable.
Developers previously have expressed an interest in the building, but neighbors said Freudenheim was asking for too much money.
After a partial collapse of the roof earlier this month, city officials directed nearby families to move out of their homes for safety reasons.
Demolition costs for the White Bros. Livery & Boarding Stable had ranged as high as $700,000, and State Supreme Court Justice Christopher
J. Burns had authorized work to try to stabilize the structure short of demolition.
Comerford said the city hopes to save the building for developers but that there are no definite plans for that now.
