In a blow to developers Nick Sinatra and William Paladino, the Buffalo Preservation Board on Tuesday voted unanimously in support of landmarking a century-old house on West Utica Street that had been slated for demolition as part of the developers' Elmwood Crossing project.
Following a 40-minute public hearing at which board members heard from preservationist Tim Tielman and six community residents – including two of the former homeowners – the board agreed that the Ernest Franks House, at 184 West Utica, met six of the nine criteria used to determine a structure's historic significance.
It only had to meet one, in order to qualify.
"This building is a significant resource for the community and it has met the standards for landmarking," said board member Eric Lander, summarizing the feelings expressed by others.
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Tielman, founder and executive director of the Campaign for Greater Buffalo History, Architecture and Culture – which submitted the application to have the house protected from demolition as a local landmark – applauded the decision.
"We’re gratified that not only did the Preservation Board agree with the application we submitted, they also added another criteria," he said.
Amy Nagy, director of development for Sinatra & Company Real Estate, said she was surprised and dismayed by the vote.
"It’s a legal process. You have to show evidence. It can’t be based on conjecture and good narrative, and that’s what we got a lot of," she said.
The vote is only a recommendation to the Common Council, which has the final say on landmarking.
The Council meets March 3, but will refer the issue to its Legislation Committee, which must first hold a public hearing. Because of new notification requirements, the earliest that could occur on the regular schedule is March 24, which means the Council itself can't act until at least March 31, if not April 14.
Council Member David Rivera, who represents the neighborhood, said he "supported the residents' desire to preserve the property," and would likely vote in favor of landmarking, based on the testimony he heard.
“There are a couple of things there that I felt were very compelling,” he said. “At the end of the day, the residents … certainly I have to listen to them. I’m their representative.”
Sinatra and Paladino's Ellicott Development Co. wants to demolish 180 and 184 West Utica as part of a plan to erect 20 for-sale townhouses at 188 West Utica, a parking lot that surrounds the two homes.
The proposed Parkhurst Square is part of the former Women & Children's Hospital of Buffalo campus, which the duo are redeveloping into the Elmwood Crossing mixed-use community. They say they need the entire site – and all 20 townhomes – to make the project financially viable.
The demolition plan has met with opposition from preservationists and neighbors, who denounce the developers for destroying the character of the neighborhood and damaging the city's history.
So if the Council approves the landmark, "we'll go back and it'll be a different project. It will not be a townhome project," Nagy said. "At the end of the day, all of these projects have to work economically."
Tielman and others say the Franks house, built in 1907, is a rare domestic example of a Flemish Revival style that reflects the culture in Buffalo and the state in the late 1800s and early 1900s. "It’s a cultural artifact that embodies the architecture of New York State," he said.
The style harkens back to the architecture used in Northern Europe from the 13th to the 17th centuries, and adopted in New York State as a nod to its history as a Dutch colony.
The house was designed by architect Albert Schallmo, whom Tielman described as "one of the finest architects that Buffalo has produced." The house was one of his first, but he is credited with Blessed Trinity Church at 317 Leroy Ave. as well as St. Casimir's Roman Catholic Church in Kaisertown, also landmarked.
Adding to that, Tielman and neighbors argued, the home was owned and occupied most recently by artist Rodney Taylor, who died at the end of last year from kidney failure, but whose artwork is part of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery's permanent collection, the first Buffalo-born African American with that distinction.
His father was the first African American X-ray technician hired at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, in the 1950s, when he had to fight to get the job, and one of Taylor's art pieces is on display in Roswell's Scott Bieler Clinical Sciences Center.
Taylor and his widow, Annette Daniels Taylor, bought the house on West Utica in 2005 and lived there until 2009, when they sold to Sinatra.
"Rodney loved that house. He loved that neighborhood, because it's the neighborhood he grew up in," his widow told the Preservation Board, citing her vision for the house to become a gallery for artwork by her husband and new artists. "We were the first black caretakers of that house. On paper, we were owners, but Rodney always said we're caretakers of that house."
Nagy had argued against preservation, denying that either the home or Schallmo were architecturally or culturally significant on their own. She argued that it did not have aesthetic value, and cautioned that landmarking it would have significant impact on the property and the developer.
"We know things of great beauty in the City of Buffalo. 184 West Utica does not meet the standards," she said. "It would be inappropriate for this important tool to be used to preserve a structure other than that which is truly worthy."
She said Sinatra and Ellicott had consulted with their preservation consultant, KTA Consultants, as well as the State Historic Preservation Office, and conducted independent research on the house. They had not found evidence that the characteristics cited by Tielman and others were rare in Buffalo or justified protection.
"Some of the characteristics evident in West Utica are found in many other pieces of architecture in the City of Buffalo and beyond," she said. "184 West Utica does not tell an important lesson of our past. It tells the story of a house that was designed by an architect and built by a speculator."
Neighbors disagreed.
"This house matters, because it’s part of the thread that connects us to our architectural heritage," said Undine Bistany. "Every time a house gets demolished, that thread gets smaller and smaller."
Board members disagreed, particularly Anthony James, a preservation architect, who ridiculed the arguments by Sinatra and Nagy, which he called "untrue" and "patently false" in at least two cases.
"Lots of things you said today were strictly value judgments," he said. "So I respectfully disagree with so many of your points saying it doesn’t meet those standards."
He suggested that the deteriorating condition of the house is Sinatra's fault, for not maintaining it for the last decade.
