Kleinhans Neighborhood Featured in Summer Historic Walking Tours
The Campaign for Buffalo History, Architecture and Culture will be sponsoring a walking tour of the neighborhood on the following dates:
Friday, June 18, 2004, 7PM
Saturday, July 17, 2004 9:30AM
The cost of the tour will be $6 for members and $8 for non-members. Learn more about your neighborhood - meet on the corner of College and North Street. You can also visit the Campaign's website by
clicking here. The Campaign's tour will be led by KCA president Christopher Brown.
Also, the Preservation Coalition of Erie County will offer the Fargo Neighborhood Tour on
Saturday, August 7, 2004, 9:30AM
The cost of the tour will be $6 for members and $8 for non-members. You can also visit the Preservation Coalition's website by
clicking here.
Kleinhans Neighborhood To Be Prominent in the Allentown Association's 2004 Secrets of Allentown Featuring Richard Waite
On Sunday September 26, 2004 the Allentown Association will again host its annual Secrets
of Allentown interior house tour. This year, to compliment the feature article of Richard
Waite in the Winter 2004 edition of Western New York Heritage Magazine, the tour will
feature architecture in Allentown designed by architect Richard Waite. There will also be a lecture
scheduled on Saturday, September 25, 2004 to give more information about Richard Waite and the
architecture of Allentown. For more information or to be part of this important event, please
call 884-1914. You can also visit the website by clicking here.
Neighborhood Artist to be Part of Artists in Buffalo Spring Open
On Friday, April 30 (5-9PM), Sat. May 1 (11-6PM), Sun. May 2 (11-6PM), KCA member and resident
artist Jose Fuentes, 45 Wadsworth Street, will have his studio open to display his paintings. For more information,
see the Artists in Buffalo website.
KCA Applies for Graffiti Abatement Grant
The KCA applied for a grant to remove graffiti in the neighborhood from SICA. More information
about this project will follow as more information is learned about the status of the grant.
KCA Applies Pressure for Better Management of St. John's Rooming House
KCA members have volunteered their time to help bring about better management of a rooming
house on St. John's Place. In addition, a letter was written to the city stating that The Kleinhans community
believes that 40 St. John’s Place has not been properly managed as evidenced by the following issues:
-
The house and yard is in deplorable unsightly condition;
-
Tenants have been a nuisance to the neighborhood, engaging in loud and disruptive behavior - arguments in the street, constant horn blowing (often throughout the night), and loud music from vehicles stopped in front without regard for the hour.
These behaviors are causing nearby residents to suffer and are affecting the quality of life we all should enjoy. In addition, there have been periods of criminal activity of various sorts including incidents of alleged drug dealing at the property, some occuring as recently as early March 2004.
The KCA requested that the property be managed properly or the rooming house license not be renewed. The house is having a serious and negative impact to the residents surrounding it. Sent to the City was a petition of 36 community residents requesting that the rooming house license not be renewed.
KCA Welcomes New Homeowner to Plymouth Avenue Redevelopment Area
Many of you will remember that 15 Plymouth, the former home of longtime resident Mrs.
Villa, was undertaken as a redevelopment project between the Kleinhans Community Association,
Heart of the City Neighborhoods, and West Side Neighborhood Housing Services. As a result
of that collaboration, a new homeowner was found. Dawn Lauck and her son James have purchased
the home and are renovating it. It is one more small victory for the reclamation of Plymouth
Avenue. For more information, see the Plymouth Valiant! page.
Plymouth Avenue Bus Shelter Receives Improvements
University at Buffalo students under the supervision of Allentown resident and architect
Brad Wales have put up steel plates as a border around the beautiful bus shelter that was
created about a year ago. The bus shelter just keeps looking better and better!
Trash Cleaned Up in Front of 34 Plymouth Ave.
Neighborhood volunteers cleaned up trash in front of the abandoned house at 34 Plymouth Ave.
Efforts are underway to help to preserve the house which suffered a fire a few years ago. At least
it looks better now!
First Block of Normal Avenue Proposed to Change Name to Kleinhans Place
Jen and Tom Hurley, new owners of 341 Jersey Street, spearheaded an effort to rename the
first block of Normal Avenue into Kleinhans Place. A public hearing was held on April 13 and
a large article was written about the name change in the Buffalo News that gave
good press to the Kleinhans community and Kleinhans Community Association. The item will be voted
on during the last week of April by the Common Council.
Buffalo News columnist Donn Esmonde Writes Article about Kleinhans Neighborhood
On April 9, 2004 Donn Esmonde wrote a very nice article about Susan Persico and her efforts
to revitalize the Kleinhans neighborhood. Mr. Esmonde spoke very highly of the
renovation efforts in the Kleinhans neighborhood. Esmonde said of the Kleinhans community:
"Persico and her neighbors breathed new life into a few blocks near Kleinhans Music Hall.
They turned rows of drab, tired houses into bright, multihued Victorian ladies.
With money, time and sweat, they dragged a neighborhood to its feet - and vowed to keep
it standing. It's a city success story, one of the best."
Kleinhans Neighborhood Once Again Will Participate in the Annual Garden Walk
Many neighbors are once again participating in the Annual Garden Walk that will be
held during the weekend of July 24-25, 2004. The deadline for entry is the end of April,
so if you know of anyone else who should be included, please have them contact 884-1914. The
KCA area is one of the most popular destinations on the annual GardenWalk. For more information
about the GardenWalk, click here.
Housing Changes
363 Hudson Street, the long-abandoned and vandalized house near Orton Place, was sold at
a recent HUD auction for $6,500. John Gulick, owner of the historic Sidway Mansion barn on the
first block of Plymouth Avenue, will be renovating the property for his personal residence. 3 St.
John's Place, the beautiful brick house on the corner of Wadsworth Street and St. John's Place was
recently sold at public auction for $39,000. It was purchased by a voice teacher who plans to renovate it
for use as her home and voice studio. Many people have called and inquired about the abandoned
house at 32 St. John's Place, but as of yet, no one has made a move to purchase the property.
To learn more about 32 St. John's Place, visit the web page.
Heart of The City Neighborhoods has new Executive Director
Heart of the City has hired Kristy Palumbo who will now be working out of the HCN office
located at 42 Plymouth Avenue in the Plymouth Avenue redevelopment block. Please welcome
Kristy to the neighborhood!
President Bush Visits Symphony Circle
President Bush made a visit to Symphony Circle on April 20, 2004 and gave a speech at the Mary
Seaton Room. Several hundred protestors demonstrated outside of the "Homes" quadrant across
from the Music Hall. The last time that a U.S. President visited Symphony Circle was in 1897
when president William McKinley and his wife were present on Symphony Circle to view a G.A.R.
parade that went down North Street to Porter Avenue.
KCA Tries to Improve 295 Hudson Street
HCN architect Joe Delaney, HCN executive director Kristy Palumbo and KCA president Chris Brown
met with Ellicott District Councilman Brian C. Davis on April 15, 2004. The purpose of the
meeting was to discuss a proposal regarding 295 Hudson St.
Ms. Eleanor Standingwolf, the owner, suffered a heart attack and is permanently in a nursing home. The house was abandoned when she left it and the weeds were waist-high last summer. Ms. Standingwolf’s case is being managed by Erie County Social Services and they may be in the process of taking over the house to be used as an asset to help with Ms. Standingwolf's care.
Our block club was approached recently by a woman who is interested in buying the house to live in it. Because of our interest in the quality of life for all neighborhood residents, our block club would like to become actively involved in the management of this property. This is what our block club is proposing:
-
We’d like to become partners with Erie County as interim caretakers for the house. In addition to any City of Buffalo and Erie County representatives, we’d like to have exclusive permission and authority to cut the lawn, etc. as well as be a “presence” around the abandoned home.
-
The KCA would like to market the property for Erie County or whatever entity has authority to sell the home. We have been successful in other situations attracting homeowners to the neighborhood. The proceeds can be used to assist in Ms. Standingwolf's long term care.
The meeting was very productive and we will be having subsequent conversations regarding the house in an effort
to turn the house into an owner-occupied dwelling.
KCA tries to improve 295 Hudson Street
an abandoned house strategically located on Hudson and Cottage.
KCA Undertakes Major Fundraising Drive to Help With Heart of the City Neighborhoods Plymouth Ave. Project
The KCA is helping to raise funds for the Plymouth Avenue Development Project. Over 100 letters were sent out to
generate funds to assist with the important project. In addition, the KCA has contacted Erie County and the Buffalo
Philharmonic Orchestra in hopes of conducting an interior/exterior tour of the Music Hall as a fundraiser.
The fundraising project is part of a history-making partnership to reclaim an important Buffalo neighborhood. The community surrounding Kleinhans Music Hall has been a model of urban revitalization, aggressively fighting blight and crime as well as engaging in proactive beautification efforts.
Heart of the City Neighborhoods, Inc., a not-for-profit neighborhood organization based in the Kleinhans neighborhood, has been offered a rare opportunity to take possession of a drug house located in the center of the Kleinhans neighborhood. To acquire the house, between $2,000-$3,000 must be raised to stabilize, correct code violations and maintain a house on Plymouth Avenue.
The house on Plymouth Avenue has long been a problem for the neighborhood, being the scene of a shooting in August 2002 and the target of a major FBI-led drug arrest in December 2002. The Federal government has been involved in the case since that time and is now prepared to seize the house and turn ownership over to Heart of the City Neighborhoods, Inc. Once the house is in the possession of Heart of the City, a full property analysis will take place to determine its best use.
The KCA is asking everyone to support this important opportunity. Without your support, the Plymouth Ave. house will continue to be a haven for illegal and dangerous activities that threaten the Kleinhans neighborhood, its residents and visitors.
Please donate a gift to help this project. A donation of any amount is welcome and tax-deductible (please check with your tax-advisor regarding your individual status). If you can give a donation or $30 or more, the Kleinhans Community Association will send you a thank-you gift. A limited edition coffee mug has been created especially for this effort featuring original neighborhood-themed artwork by KCA member Paul Lachacz. Paul is an accomplished artist who has won first place in the 2002 and 2003 Allentown Art Festival poster contests.
Please help make history and contribute to this vitally important project. Please send your donation to:
Kleinhans Community Association
c/o 34 Orton Place
Buffalo, New York 14201
Make checks payable to "Heart of the City Neighborhoods" and note on the check that it is
for the "Plymouth Avenue Development Fund."
