Eyesore or Monument? Preservationists Fight to Save a Grain Elevator in Buffalo

In mid-January, Mayor Brown approved the permit over the objections of federal and state lawmakers, and local conservationists. But almost immediately, a state appellate judge granted preservationists a temporary restraining order to stop demolition. The judge set a hearing on the matter for this week.

It’s not the first time the Great Northern has faced oblivion; its current owner previously sought permission to demolish it, as had its previous owner, Pillsbury.

Among the grain elevator’s supporters are the Buffalo city council, which recently passed a resolution asking Archer Daniels “to explore the options to collaborate with or sell the property” rather than tear it down.

For his part, Mr. Brown, a fifth-term Democrat who was re-elected in a contentious write-in campaign last fall, said that he was in favor of keeping the grain elevator standing but wasn’t prepared to stop the demolition.

Preservationists have accused Archer Daniels of “demolition by neglect,” essentially leaving the Great Northern to rot and bear the brunt of brutal weather and lack of maintenance. The building — which soars some 15 stories — sits surrounded by a chain-link fence, with broken windows puckering its elongated, and rusted, rooftop cupola.

At least two developers have voiced interest in redeveloping the structure, which sits on a spit of land bordered by the Buffalo River, which also cuts through a nearby area still known as Elevator Alley, flanked as it is other towering silos. Ideas for residential-retail developments and arts institutions have been floated by supporters of its preservation, or perhaps a granary museum, a possible complement to silo tours that some companies already offer.

In mid-January, a Washington, D.C., developer who has been active in Buffalo, Douglas Jemal, offered Archer Daniels $100,000 to repair the hole in the building’s northern wall, a proposition that was declined by the company.