BUFFALO, N.Y. — Demolition crews are all set up outside Great Northern Grain Elevator on Ganson Street, ready to go. But plans to knock the structure down are on hold, now that Developer Douglas Jemal has entered the conversation.
In a phone interview with 2 On Your Side, Jemal called the 124-year-old building "gorgeous," and says he's "not going to stop" when it comes to saving it. He's says he's working with New York State Senator Tim Kennedy and preservation groups to take legal action and stop ADM Milling from going through with their emergency plans to tear it down.
Jemal says he'd like to buy and redevelop the property, like he's become known for doing with other buildings around Buffalo that faced a similar fate.
"The building can be saved, the building can be restored, and the building does have a life through adaptive reuse after it's restored," he said. "It's no different than Seneca One, they said it should be knocked down. It's no different than when Mark Croce saved the Statler. They said that should be knocked down. The police station was obsolete should be knocked down. I mean these buildings absolutely can be saved."
Jemal says part of what attracted him to invest in Buffalo in the first place was the historic significance of its arcitecture.
"I think the silos are an important of Buffalo's history," he continued. "I think they are what the Washington Monument is to Washington. It's the silos, it's the waterscape, and the industry in Buffalo since 1848, and now we have some of these standing. We shouldn't just discard them and put a parking lot."
Last week, ADM Milling released a report on the state of the building. The company found that it presents an "imminent and substantial threat to the community," after the portion of the wall came off in the windstorm.
You can read ADM's full report here.
The matter is set to go before a judge on Wednesday morning, in a hearing Jemal says he plans to attend.