{"id":3797,"date":"2012-06-01T23:55:54","date_gmt":"2012-06-02T03:55:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/?p=3797"},"modified":"2013-02-10T22:07:32","modified_gmt":"2013-02-11T03:07:32","slug":"the-lackawanna-blues-how-smaller-cities-are-destroying-their-future-by-demolishing-the-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/2012\/06\/the-lackawanna-blues-how-smaller-cities-are-destroying-their-future-by-demolishing-the-past\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lackawanna Blues: How Smaller Cities are Destroying their Future by Demolishing the Past"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"This<\/a><\/p>\n

The following is a guest post submitted by Joel Helfrich<\/a>.
\nSubmit your story today<\/a>.<\/i><\/small><\/p>\n

Historic buildings are under attack, especially in Western New York. Indeed, the month of May is potentially the saddest month locally for historic structures in recent memory. Within a short time, the Otisca Brewery building \"external<\/a> in Syracuse, the Cataract Brewery buildings \"external<\/a> in Rochester, and the Bethlehem Steel North Office Building \"external<\/a> in Lackawanna will be gone\u2014ashes on the dust heap that is our shoddy collective memory. All of these buildings were once useful\u2014integral, in fact\u2014pieces of our industrial past. Soon, these structures will be removed, thus helping three communities to ponder if they were ever part of the \u201crust belt.\u201d<\/p>\n

In each case, the companies that purchased the properties failed to maintain the buildings and, quite possibly, encouraged decay in the hopes that one day the \u201ceyesores\u201d would be removed. That the companies have been let off the hook by city officials is mind-blowing, considering the code enforcement that occurs in most residential neighborhoods for even the most minor of infractions, including, but not limited to, growing wildflowers in front yards. As the Preservation Buffalo Niagara recently stated in a press release regarding the Bethlehem Steel building, \u201cmore responsible stewardship [is] needed\u201d to prevent the ongoing efforts by companies in the future to carry out exactly the same.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

For more eye-popping images that portray the beauty that still is the Bethlehem Steel North Office Building and the steel plant, go here \"external<\/a> and here \"external<\/a>.<\/i><\/small><\/div>\n

As the mayor of Cincinnati recently stated during a WXXI radio interview while visiting Rochester: the first thing he considers when looking at a development project is how it enhances his city\u2019s history and builds on the culture of the place. The Otisca, Cataract and Bethlehem Steel buildings are integral structures of the places of which they are a part and enhance the sense of place. In the first case, the Otisca Brewery is one of the last remaining brewery buildings in Syracuse. The Cataract buildings were built to take advantage of the water and power from the High Falls of the Genesee River, the same location that constituted the original section of the City of Rochester. The City of Lackawanna was named after the steel company that built the office building in the first place. When combined with the former steel plant facility nearby (once the world\u2019s fourth largest producer of steel), the area could easily be a World Heritage Site [PDF]<\/a>, patterned after successful ruins and adaptive reuse examples globally.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
\nFor example, the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex\"external<\/a>, simply known as Zollverein, was a coke factory in Essen, Germany, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Germans had the foresight to let the complex remain as a tourist attraction that now boasts the world\u2019s largest ice skating rink in the winter and an industrial-strength Ferris wheel. People are allowed to climb all over the plant. Zollverein is part of a larger \u201cIndustrial Heritage Trail\u201d that makes its way through Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg, and Bochum. Another part of the trail is Landschaftspark Nord in Duisburg that \u201cwas designed in 1991 by Latz + Partner (Peter Latz), with the intention that it work to heal and understand the industrial past, rather than trying to reject it.\u201d The impressively restored Zweckel Machine Hall in nearby Gladbeck is used for \u201ccultural events, exhibitions and private celebrations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Check out the following links:
\nThe success story of Ruhr former industrial sites \"external<\/a>
\nHow the industrial Ruhr Valley became a Cultural Capital \"external<\/a>
\nLesson\u2019s from Germany\u2019s Ruhr District, Part 1 \"external<\/a>
\n<\/i><\/small><\/div>\n

But even closer to home, in the United States, we have a number of projects that have taken portions of America\u2019s industrial past and reused buildings, bridges, and other parts of the built environment for new purposes. Such adaptive reuse has literally created new public parks, recreation areas, and even self-contained communities.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
\nThe restored Victorian era Pearl Brewery \"external<\/a> on the banks of the San Antonio River in San Antonio, Texas, is a success story and a case in point. Pearl was once the largest brewery in Texas and now the entire complex is used for businesses and community opportunities such as a Farmer\u2019s Market, bike sharing, The Culinary Institute of America\u2019s Texas campus, and retail, residential, and restaurant spaces. But the successful adaptive reuse of this brewery is not the only example, nor was it the first. Industrial \u201cruins\u201d and other \u201cconversions\u201d have occurred for a long time.<\/p>\n

\"Gas<\/a>
\nTake Gas Works Park \"external<\/a> in Seattle. In 1975, a New York Times journalist wrote, \u201cSeattle is about to have one of the nation\u2019s most advanced pieces of urban landscape design. The complex array of towers, tanks and pipes of the gas works forms a powerful industrial still life \u2026 serving both as a visual focus for the park and as a monument to the city\u2019s industrial past. The park represents a complete reversal from a period when industrial monuments were regarded, even by preservationists, as ugly intrusions on the landscape, to a time when such structures as the gas works are recognized for their potential ability to enhance the urban experience.\u201d Eric DeLony of the National Park Service wrote, \u201cGas Works Park will not only be a unique first in the United States, if not the world, but will set an important precedent for the future preservation of industrial structure through an imaginative plan for adaptive use.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Below<\/a>
\nTake the Paris Promende Plant\u00e9e \"external<\/a>, a restored viaduct that now has trails, tunnel trenches, viaduct footbridges, shops, and other amenities. The Atlanta Beltline \"external<\/a> and Chicago\u2019s Bloomingdale Trail \"external<\/a>, touted as \u201cChicago\u2019s Next Great Park,\u201d are being constructed on former rail lines and have received a significant amount of attention. In fact, adaptive reuse of railroad lines is a popular activity. The Reading Viaduct \"external<\/a>, “Philly\u2019s Park in the Sky” \"external<\/a>, is a case in point. So is Jersey City\u2019s “Sixth Street Embankment” \"external<\/a>, which recently placed seventh out of 100 competing sites in the National Trust for Historic Preservation\u2019s \u201cThis Place Matters\u201d competition (learn more \"external<\/a>). In St. Louis, there is the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group that is working to reuse yet another elevated railway \"external<\/a>. Obviously the enormously successful High Line \"external<\/a> in New York City is the best example of an elevated rail line bringing massive amounts of development dollars to a city (learn more \"external<\/a>). People want outdoor gathering places; reusing industrial places is one significant way to make that happen.<\/p>\n