The City of Lackawanna earlier obtained a court order to force Gateway Trade Center to knock the iconic century-old building down.
Derek Gee / Buffalo News
Demolition of Bethlehem building is delayed

Gateway VP blames delay on "timing issue," says demolition could still begin before June 21 court date
By Mark Sommer
News Staff Reporter
Published:May 23, 2012, 1:55 PM
8 Comments
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Demolition of the former Bethlehem Steel administration building has been temporarily put on hold — and the City of Lackawanna is now taking the building's owner, Gateway Trade Center, to court again June 21 for not moving quickly enough to demolish the building.

"The building had a stay of execution, so to speak," said Joseph LaRaiso, Gateway's executive vice president. "If the city backs off, we can back off, but they're not, from what I can understand."

Demolition could still begin before the June 21 court date, LaRaiso said.

"We're probably a week or two from restarting demolition," LaRaiso said. "I don't want to be found in contempt of court again." The city earlier obtained a court order to force the company to raze the century-old building.

LaRaiso said he was also learning from The Buffalo News for the first time that a $500,000 state grant the city applied for to help the company pay for the demolition was turned down.

"Of course, we are disappointed. It's a tremendous expense for us," he said.

LaRaiso blamed the demolition delay on "a timing issue" between the state Department of Labor and Empire Dismantlement, the demolition contractor, in which certain obligations, he said, had yet to be fulfilled before work could resume.

LaRaiso acknowledged that the city "has been on our case for years to do this, and we've been dragging our feet because of the economics." He said the company, which bought the building in 1983, concluded years ago it was "cost prohibitive" to rehabilitate the building but could, when the economy improves, build a new incubator office structure at the site.

Dana Saylor, among the preservationists who have had a presence outside the building over the past week, said she was glad for the reprieve and would work with others to mobilize sentiment for saving the building.

LaRaiso, however, was critical of the people demanding that the building be saved from the wrecking ball.

"Everyone wants to do these great, grandeurcq things, but no one wants to put any money to get anything done. Typical Western New York," LaRaiso said.

The state grant that was to pay for the company's estimated $700,000 to $800,000 demolition cost was withdrawn earlier this month because "an alternative reuse study of the building" was never conducted as promised, a state development agency spokeswoman said.

The City of Lackawanna was awarded $500,000 in October 2009 for asbestos removal based on a verbal agreement made with that agency and the state, according to Laura Magee, spokeswoman for Empire State Development Corp.

The agreement called for a reuse study that allowed for asbestos abatement and remediation, but not demolition. Gateway Trade Center, the building's owner, never conducted the study and informed Empire State Development on May 7 it was planning to demolish the building.

According to Magee, the company said it planned to do so without removing the asbestos first out of safety concerns and to reduce project costs.

She said the agency then notified the building owner and the city that since the reuse study promised earlier had not been conducted, the grant was withdrawn.

msommer@buffnews.com


Comments

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Demolition by neglect.
GREG OLMA, BUFFALO, NY on Wed May 23, 2012 at 03:43 PM
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Stupid preservationists getting in the way of progress. This building is standing in the way of what could otherwise be a very beautiful drive from Orchard Park.
LOU BORDONARO, BUFFALO, NY on Wed May 23, 2012 at 04:07 PM
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Tell us, Mr. LaRaiso, you've owned this once-impressive building for 29 years and have done nothing to protect it or fix it and now you're disappointed that nobody will help you clean it up? If I ignore my property for the next 29 years is anybody gonna help me with it?
MAUREEN ELARDO, NORTH TONAWANDA, NY on Wed May 23, 2012 at 04:12 PM
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So if I understand this story correctly, Gateway promised to do a reuse study as a condition of getting a $500,000 grant, but never did the study. The $500,000 was to be used for asbestos abatement as part of the reuse study.

They are now saying that they plan to demolish WITHOUT first doing the asbestos abatement that they promised to do with the grant money.

Two things bother me:

1. I didn't think that demolition was legal WITHOUT first doing an asbestos abatement.

2. What happened to the reuse study?
ALEXANDER MORRIS, PHILADELPHIA, PA on Wed May 23, 2012 at 04:59 PM
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Is anyone going to hold the well meaning, yet obstructionist, "preservationists" accountable for their attempts to "save" buildings that are too far gone to save at a reasonable cost? It is one of this area's greatest crosses to bear. The well-meaning people that delay progress when a "landmark" is too far gone to save, must be called to account for failing to save historic structures before they are devestated ruins. The taxes on property in New York make historical losses like this the normal fate for unneeded, yet historic structures.
PETER BENHAM, KENMORE, NY on Wed May 23, 2012 at 04:59 PM
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Don't give this guy a cent. He should never have bought the building if his goal was to let it rot.
MICHAEL DIPASQUALE, NORTHAMPTON, MA on Wed May 23, 2012 at 05:00 PM
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First off, don't call demolition of this building "progress". Call it a failure of both the owners and the City of Lackawanna to take reasonable steps to preserve this building. Also don't pretend that the preservationists are just now getting into the act. I wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper (the Front Page) 3 years ago crticizing the city and the owner for seeking "Restore" funding to take it down. I also wrote at that time to the NYS Preservation people who are also now involved. At the time I said that just placing a xxx-load of blue plastic tarps on the roof would have prevented most of the water damage and it was wrong to reward blatant neglect with a corporate welfare check. Now, 3 years later there are still no blue tarps on the roof and both parties are anxious to demolish this beautiful industrial legacy. The owner now laments the fact that they lost their handout. Boo hoo!
Here's a solution; re-district this property to be part of Buffalo and get the waterfront guys going on stabilizing the building. ( The city of Lackawanna long ago allowed the Olmstead South Park grounds to be transferred to Buffalo). It could serve as a landmark to designate the southern boundary of the Buffalo waterfront.
Then get Higgins to get some money to demolish the rear 2/3rds which was added on later and save the front 1/3 as a memorial to the hundreds of thousands of men who worked at Bethlehem Steel from 1901 until it closed down.

Once its gone its gone forever; this one is worth the effort!
JIM RUDNICKI, LAKEVIEW, NY on Wed May 23, 2012 at 08:08 PM
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Good post, Jim.
LOU BORDONARO, BUFFALO, NY on Wed May 23, 2012 at 09:25 PM
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Ask the Steel Plant Museum folks how hard they fought for Old North.....the City of Lackawanna Historian....Mayor Kathy tried to get City Hall moved there, but...the club struck again. Don't assume folks did not try to save and preserve Old North.....lots did but it always fell on deaf ears. Ironically Old North fights back on its own merit.......because the original front is standing proud and the newer back broke down to neglect and the elements. Old North will stand on and on because the hard-working men from the "old country" whose skills and sweat built it as a labor of love for America when they came to start a new life for themselves and their families. Old North gave them a job when they didn't even speak English yet, and many families today still reap their benefits.

The City went after Gateway back in 2006........someone should ask the former Mayor, WHY?
A fiasco was created and now some big questions need to be answered.........Lackawanna

Good idea, give the front of it to the Buffalo Boys so they can tie its' wonder/mystique into OUR waterfront for posterity's sake. Leaving it up to Lackawanna, leaves it up to the ......." Lack " avision club! Let them build their "incubator office building" and use Old North's facade as they did in downtown Buffalo with the Old/new Blue Cross building.
Leave it stand for something historical that affected millions of Western New York's to this very day, even though it has been closed for almost three decades. We need to put Lackawanna back on the map in a positive direction.....and maybe our neighbors negative image of us will one day begin to fade away........


CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JUNE 19 2006
Regular session of the Lackawanna City Council met in the Council Chambers, Council President Ronald R. Spadone presiding. The meeting was preceded by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Council President Spadone
Meeting called to order/Pledge of Allegiance
NB: Meeting being recorded.
Roll Call: Present: Haxton, Szymanski, Jaworski, Schiavi, Spadone
Dept. Heads: Present: Law, Adm.& Fin., Pub.Works, Pub.Saf., Rec.

Communications from Department/Division Heads:

Demolition of Bethlehem Steel Main Office Building

To: City Council

Please put the attached resolution on the agenda for the council meeting.
ARC. PETRICCA, CITY ATTORNEY
Moved by Jaworski, seconded by Spadone, to receive and file, act on resolution.
Yeas: Haxton, Szymanski, Jaworski, Schiavi, Spadone. Carried 5-0

Demolition of Bethlehem Steel Main Office

Resolution #14, 2006

Whereas, the former Bethlehem Steel Company Main office building on Hamburg Turnpike, Lackawanna New York assessed to Gateway Metro Park is an unsafe building pursuant to Chapter 83 of the city code and such constitutes a public nuisance under 83.3 of the code.

Now therefore be it resolved that the City Code Enforcement Officer and all other responsible city officials are hereby directed to initiate any proper action required to demolish the building forthwith as a emergency demolition and to assess the costs thereof as provided for by law.

THIS RESOLUTION SHALL TAKE EFFECT IMMEDIATELY

Moved by Jaworski, seconded by Szymanski, to adopt as written.

Yeas: Szymanski, Jaworski, Schiavi, Spadone. Carried 4 - 1

Nays: Haxton

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" Lack "avision strikes again! Follow the money as my friend always says......follow the money!