On the corner of Niagara and Vermont Street stands a historic landmark that is on the verge of being demolished if it does not receive a new owner soon and is not revitalized.
St Mary’s on the Hill was built in 1888 out of sandstone and was placed on the highest point of Prospect Hill, giving it its name.
Now, the landmark that has been vacant for over a decade now is deteriorating and falling to pieces making it a hazard the neighboring houses and businesses.
“The roofing started to go bad when the building stopped being taken care of. There was no drain and water would get into the sandstone, get porous, freeze and then thaw making the sandstone deteriorate and fall off the building,” said a Guard Contracting Corporation employee working on the building.
Along with the sandstone breaking off; the roof is collapsing, shingles are flying and the inside of the building is falling down as well.
With the historic church being a hazard to citizens, the neighborhood complained enough about the building to get it to housing court so that something would be done about it.
“Something needs to be done to it. It is an eye-sore I see every morning I wake up,” said Jacob Christensen, who live across from the church. “I don’t want it to be knocked down but something needs to be done here.”
After taking a look at the building, housing court proposed a demolition hearing and came to the conclusion that even though it is a landmark, the building must come down unless it is fixed right away, said Harvey Garrett, West Side Community Collaborative executive director.
“Just because it is a landmark does not mean it should be saved. It means it is just an important building. If it is dangerous, it has to come down,” Garrett Said. “Human lives always trunk buildings.”
But Garrett said that City Hall is willing to work with saving the building as long as they are brought a solution on how to save it. The demolition order is not a permanent one and can be lifted off if City Hall is given a solution on how to save it.
“If we bring them a buyer who has money and is willing to work on the property and is willing to work with housing commerce and getting a way to transition the building from the current owner to the new owner and we bring them to City Hall then they are willing to work with us," Garrett said.
For now, the building will stay standing until it starts to deteriorate even more and becomes an even worse safety hazard for the community. With the season’s changing, the weather gets better giving more time for the building to get fixed and to hopefully find an owner to keep the landmark from coming down. But city inspectors will be checking it regularly and closely to make sure it has not gotten worse described Garrett.
The first time they feel it has the building will come down.
As for potential new owners, Garrett said that there are three that have expressed great interest in buying the old church: D’Youville College, Sam Savarino, chief executive officer of Savarino Companies; and Homestead Conservancy.
So far, there has been no word on which one of the three will purchase the building, if any of them even do go through with it. For now, the building will be worked on with the preservation group of Buffalo to make sure it is safe and not harmful to the neighborhood, giving it a chance to stay standing and stay a part of the West Side.
And as for Garrett, he would love to see the building stay up and be put to good use. He feels that this church is a perfect story of Buffalo’s decline and the rebirth of the West Side.
“There are buildings falling apart, property values declining and people leaving and this building is an example when all of these things take place,” said the executive director. “And what’s happening right now with the building with the city interest, people getting involved and money going into it, this building is a good example the decline that took place and the rebirth of the West Side and the rest of the city.”
On the side....
Church debris no problem for neighboring property for sale
By Zack Jewett, Ashley Johnson and Chris Haymes
St. Mary’s Church on the West Side of Buffalo has debris falling into surrounding homeowner’s yards. However, Pushpa Gunatlake says that it’s not posing too much of a problem for her agency, Pioneer Star in selling a house next to the church’s property.
A house at 784 Niagara St. is one of the few homes that get hit with the debris from the church and this is a home that’s on the market with Pioneer Star.
“There are quite a few people interested in purchasing the property,” Gunatlake said.
She has currently narrowed it down to a few buyers but she says she’s had to lower the price of the home in order to maintain the potential buyers’ interest.
This is because of the debris coming off of the church and being blown on to the property, other than that, buyers don’t see a problem with the property, Gunatlake said.
“I think the church is such a beautiful building and should not be demolished,” Gunatlake said.
Gunatlake feels the county or the people of the church should restore it because she feels that’s the best choice.
“I love the church and the structure of it, you don’t see too many buildings like that anymore. It may be causing problems but it’s not worth demolishing it,” she said.
However, it’s not that easy. The church needs a buyer with enough money to work with the building and who is willing to put in the hard work. It’s a landmark so it’s important, but the danger issues override that right now, Harvey Garrett said.
There’s no firm time table for when it has to come down but if bricks start falling off of it then it will have to be demolished, he said.
Through these problems, both Garret and Gunatlake stay optimistic.
Gunatlake hopes to sell the property of the home soon and thinks it’s very possible to do so.