Supreme Court Justice Penny Wolfgang has ordered
the city of Buffalo to make a decision whether or not to issue a demolition permit
for the Atwater House at 1089 Elmwood. Despite the efforts of Mayor Masiello and
the American Institute of Architects to convince Pano Georgiadis to incorporate the
Atwater House into his plans to expand Pano's restaurant, Mr. Georgiadis brought
the lawsuit to compel the demolition permit to be issued.
The Mayor had held up the permit while alternatives to demolition were explored.
Although the Mayor told the Buffalo News that he had denied the demolition permit,
this information does not appear to have been conveyed to the city law department.
Although the court has ordered the city to take action it is not requiring the demolition
permit to be issued. The city can deny the permit or ask Mr. Georgiadis to prepare
an environmental impact statement.
On September 10th Mr. Georgiadis applied for a demolition permit to expand the restaurant
and parking. As required by city law, the Buffalo Preservation Board conducted a
hearing on the demolition permit even though the building is not a designated landmark
or in a preservation district.
Nearly 100 people showed up at City Hall on Nov. 21 for the hearing. About 2 dozen
people spoke opposing the demolition including Preservation Coalition Executive Director
Scott Field, Jessie Schnell, President of Forever Elmwood, Tim Tielman from Campaign
for Buffalo, Dennis Galucki of the Landmark Society, Jeffrey Lebsack of the American
Planning Association as well as many neighborhood residents and interested citizens.
Peter Murad of the American Institute of Architects spoke about the importance of
the building and offered the assistance of the AIA to Pano in coming up with a reuse
plan. The Preservation Board approved a motion by Russ Pawlak to oppose the demolition
with only Dennis Masters of the construction company BRD opposed.
Murad's offer of architectural assistance was taken up at a meeting called by the
Mayor on Nov. 1. In addition to the people named above Eva Hassett the Mayor's Chief
of Staff, Ray McGurn the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services, Tim Wanamaker
- the Director of Strategic Planning, and Alan Gertsman, an attorney from the Corporation
Counsel's office were present.
The Mayor agreed to hold up the demo permit while Pano met with architects from the
AIA to see if his needs - more tables, more parking and access to the parking lot
can be met a price he can afford while saving the Atwater House. Pano was concerned
about serving on the 2nd floor - liability issues and difficulty in serving as well
as additional costs.
The group met again on November 19. Pano's architect showed 3 potential plans:
one linking current restaurant to the Atwater House, the other two demolishing it.
The plan retaining the Atwater House was estimated to cost about $90,000 more. Pano
stated that he didn't want to pay any more than his original plan, that he wants
to expand the number of tables but can't expand without additional parking.
Jessie Kregal of Forever Elmwood proposed building a 2nd story addition to the existing
restaurant and selling off the Atwater House to someone who would be interested in
keeping it. Murad offered to explore that plan further.
The Mayor told Pano that the city could help with the financing and asked him if
financing were not a problem which option would he favor. Pano said he had only one
option, tearing down the building.
The Mayor asked Pano to meet privately with him and his planning director to explore
possible city financing for reusing 1089 Elmwood. We don't know if that meeting took
place, but if it did it was unsuccessful as Pano then took his case to court.
We are waiting now to learn what action the city will take in response to the Judge's
order.
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