JUNE/JULY 2000
Meeting Schedule. We will continue to meet on the 3rd Wednesday evening of each month, at the First Presbyterian Church, One Symphony Circle. The next few KCA meetings are:
Mark your calendars and hope to see you there!
6th Annual Garden Walk. The KCA area will once again be participating in the 6th Annual Garden Walk which will be held on July 29-30, 2000. Residents open their gardens to visitors on both days and it is one of the best annual Buffalo events. We would like to set up an information/welcome tent on Normal Ave. at Pennsylvania. If you would like to help, please contact Chris Brown, 884-1914.
The Garden Walk runs from 10AM to 4PM and the headquarters will be at the Upper West Arts Center at Richmond and Ferry.
Days Park's Olmsted Origins. On June 7, 2000 a major event was held at nearby Days Park to announce the finding of the original Days Park plans by famed 19th Century landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. Days Park was a gift to the City of Buffalo from developer Thomas Day in the 1850s but was redesigned by Olmsted in the spring of 1887. The plans were located at the FLO National Historic Site in Brookline, MA. Many KCA residents were in attendance and Mary Simpson of Days Park thanked all who attended and supported the event.
Architectural Thieves Back in Full Force. Everyone remembers the burglaries which occurred last year at 18 Plymouth Avenue when leaded glass windows, doors, mantles and other architectural elements were stolen.
Doorknob stolen from 29 St. John's Place
Early in
the morning of June
21, 2000, the owners of 29 St. John's Place discovered that their home had
been burglarized - their antique doorknobs were stolen from the home's entrance
doors. If you see this doorknob anywhere, please let the KCA know at 884-1914.
The community would like the doorknobs returned to the home's owners and
want this activity to cease immediately.
KCA Block Club Meeting Helps Nab Drug Dealers. As reported in the Buffalo News on Thursday, June 22, 2000, our last KCA meeting held 6/21/2000 resulted in a drug bust - prompted by first hand descriptions of alleged drug activity at the intersection of Jersey and Plymouth. Detective McDonald had been invited to the meeting to hear more about the doorknobs stolen from 29 St. John's Place, but discussion at one point veered towards dealing of illegal drugs at Plymouth and Jersey. Who can say that block club meetings don't have value? Great going everyone! Here's the article:
DISCUSSION OF DRUGS LEADS TO MAN'S ARREST
"For Buffalo police, it was a serendipitous arrest."
"Shortly after attending a West Side block club meeting at which residents
complained of drug activity in the neighborhood Wednesday, police arrested
a man at Jersey Street rooming house, where they said they found 76 bags
of crack cocaine packaged for sale."
"Damon L. Coleman, 28, of Debra Lane faces two felony counts of cocaine
possession."
"Central District Detective Timothy McDonald and Officers Leo McGrath and
Joseph Martin had just attended a meeting of the Kleinhans-St. John-Orton
Street Block Club, after which they began investigating residents' complaints
of drug activity in the Jersey Street and Plymouth Avenue area."
"Their investigation led them to a rooming house at 331 Jersey St., where
they approached Coleman and asked for identification. After conducting a
pat-down search of Coleman for the officers' safety, police said, they found
one bag containing 49 individual rocks of crack cocaine and another containing
27 rocks in the waistband of Coleman's pants."
Kleinhans Music Hall Slated to Have Reflecting Pool Restored. A few people in the neighborhood may still remember when Kleinhans Music Hall had a reflecting pool surrounding the Mary Seaton Room - which has long been filled in. It was announced in the 6/23/00 Buffalo News that the Music Hall is planned to have the pool restored, being an important part of architect Eliel Saarinen's original International-style design.
Restoration project architect Ted Lownie said that if all goes well with project approvals and funding, the construction of the reflecting pool can begin later this year. The size of the pool will be faithful to its original design, but the depth will be decreased from its original specification of 4 feet to 3 inches for maintenance and safety reasons.
This improvement should add tremendous beauty to an already lovely Symphony Circle!
Traffic Calming Plans Stall as Runaway Car Crashes Into Area Homes. While the Heart of the City Neighborhoods-sponsored traffic calming project has run into some snags, as a community, we can't lose site of the real dangers of speeding vehicles in a pedestrian neighborhood. Automobile manufacturers glorify aggressive driving in their advertising and in the summer time, drivers often become careless.
According to a KCA member and Wadsworth Street resident, at approximately 11:30 PM on June 11, the driver of an allegedly stolen vehicle was proceeding easterly on Hudson Street at a great rate of speed and lost control of their vehicle at the intersection of Wadsworth Street (one of the intersections identified as one of the worst in the KCA neighborhood). The vehicle proceeded northerly on Wadsworth and crashed into the home at 43 Wadsworth. The car destroyed the front porch and stockade fence and grazed the building itself. The car then proceeded further north and destroyed the porch steps of the vacant house at 45 Wadsworth. The driver and passenger were apparently uninjured as they ran away on foot westerly down Hudson Street.
This is the same intersection that a man was ran down about a year ago. It is also the third incident in the last 2 years where an automobile crashed into a house at a bad intersection in the KCA neighborhood. 306 Hudson Street (Hudson-Cottage-Plymouth intersection) was also crashed into as was 82 Plymouth (Pennsylvania-Plymouth intersection). All these intersections were identified by the community as being dangerous. As we proceed down the traffic calming project process, we should not lose site of the real danger of irreplaceable loss of life and historic homes due to out-of-control drivers. The new School 36 playground draws many children to Hudson Street, near the dangerous intersection of Cottage-Plymouth-Hudson. There are many children who play on the sidewalk in front of their apartment building on Wadsworth near Allen St. Both of these streets are very dangerous and we need to recognize that traffic calming elements which incorporate pinch points and raised intersections help to reduce the speed of traffic, but also keep our streets open for commuters and emergency vehicles into our neighborhood.
At a traffic calming meeting held with Heart of the City Neighborhoods on June 8 and attended by KCA members Carlos Benitez and Sue Byron, Ellicott District Councilmember Barbara Miller-Williams was in attendance and requested that the group outreach to African American and Hispanics and have a representative number of minorities as part of the Committee. HCN will be performing outreach to Lower West Side minority community leaders to attempt to get buy-in and feedback on the plan that has been developed. In our KCA block club, solicitation for traffic calming feedback was requested from ALL residents in our diverse neighborhood, regardless of gender, ethnic origin, religious affiliation or sexual orientation.
Funding may also be an issue, because according to those at the June 8 meeting, original funding that was set aside for the project has been re-used for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Park Restoration Project.
It is important that we continue efforts on the traffic calming project and not lose focus that the ultimate objective is to help people who live in city neighborhoods be protected from the VERY REAL DANGERS of the automobile.
Hot Dog Stand. A special thanks to all those KCA residents who helped out at the Allentown Association's hot dog (& veggie burger) stand at the Art Festival this year on June 10 and 11. Cyndy Allen was the chair of the event and many neighbors from the KCA gave their time to this important fund raiser. Proceeds from the hot dog stand go to the Allentown Association to support its continued mission of helping our neighborhood.
Bus Stop Bench. The KCA is researching the feasibility of putting a park bench at Plymouth and Pennsylvania Street, at the bus stop. A bench donated by Dr. Persico had been placed there last year but was stolen. Shane Stephenson is contacting the NFTA to see if they would be willing to put a bench there or make a donation to the KCA so that we would be able to purchase a bench.
New Deli. A new deli is being opened at the long-vacant storefront at 315 Pennsylvania on the corner of Plymouth.
Flower Planter Update. All flower planter adopters were contacted and agreed to continue taking care of the planters on KCA street corners. Since last year, a few planters had been stolen or damaged. It's no secret that maintaining these planters is sometimes a challenge: some people think that despite the flowers in them, they are trash containers and other people feel a need to vent their frustrations by pulling out flowers and discarding them.
Even so, this is an important year - with the neighborhood's participation again in the 6th Annual Garden Walk, we certainly want our area to look its best. All planters have been filled, and to those who have adopted these planters, THANK YOU. The planters are highly valued by all who enjoy the beauty of the flowers.
KCA FLOWER PLANTER ADOPTERS
Another unsolicited message arrived on June 5, 2000 which said: "What a pleasure to read about the good work done recently by the Kleinhans Community Association. I remember with great pleasure my visits to the Music Hall and surroundings as a young person, and it is so good to know you are keeping things up--even improving them." --Karen W.
Orton Gardens. Although the rain has not been cooperating this year with the creation of a community garden at 20 Orton Pl., progress has been made. Beds have been staked out and should be planted soon. Initial funding through Grassroots Gardens has been secured, courtesy of the Community Foundation. Last, but certainly not least, we were awarded a 2000 Mayor's Neighborhood Matching Fund grant! Thank you to everyone who pledged their time and money which was used as a match on the grant request. A sign, fencing and more will be erected soon!
Property Changes. 328 Pennsylvania was recently sold at a county tax auction... 289 Pennsylvania is still being marketed by HUD and as of this writing, no bidders have stepped up to the plate... 333 Pennsylvania keeps getting lower and lower in its price - when it first came on the market a couple of years ago it was being sold for $95,000; it was just reduced by its lender to $39,900... 367 Pennsylvania was transferred to HUD in June and will be sold via their Internet-based auction process soon...
Fix-up work is taking place at 49 Plymouth Avenue, which had been abandoned for several years... Friends of Night People have expressed an interest in participating in creating a community garden at 390 Hudson Street, next to their site.
Kleinhans Music Hall and Other Buffalo Architecture Featured in National Magazine. The August 2000 issue, v. 28 no.4, of Old House Journal has a glowing article, pp. 101-105, about Buffalo's fabulous architecture by Rochesterian Steve Jordan, complete with color photos of Kleinhans Music Hall, Arlington Park and notable buildings including the Darwin Martin house and the Guaranty building. This certainly reinforces how important Kleinhans Music Hall is to our neighborhood.
Area Home Owner Is Recipient of Preservation Coalition of Erie County's 2000 Preservation Award. Congratulations to Sandy Hertel, owner of 361 Porter Ave (between West Ave. and Cobb Alley) who was honored for the work performed in the restoration of her elegant 1888 Queen Anne style home. Don't miss the Preservation Coalition-sponsored Allentown West & The Circle walking tour held on Sat. Sept. 2, 2000 at 9:30AM. Call Chris Brown 884-1914 or the Preservation Coalition 885-3899 for information.
Important July Dates To Remember:
Kleinhans Community Association
c/o 34 Orton Place, Buffalo NY 14201, 884-1914
Visit our web site on the Internet:
http://kleinhansca.org
Reminder!!
KCA Meeting Wed. 7/19/2000 7PM, 1st Presbyterian Church