BUFFALO, NY – It is one restoration project that many hold near and dear. However, Buffalo's landmark art deco former train station, which hovers over the economically depressed east side of the city, is also among the most challenging.
Hopes of restoring Central Terminal go back further than hopes of the Buffalo Bills returning to the playoffs, and the odds of success seem much longer.
"When I got on the board, the former president warned me that this project will eat you up and spit you out," said Paul Lang, an architect who is entering his seventh year on the Central Terminal Restoration Corp, which has owned the building since 1997.
According to Lang, the workload for board members has increased since the Executive Director hired to oversee the operation of the terminal of the left in August along with five board members.
Lang said some board members left due to time constraints, while others bowed out due to infighting among members of the board.
"It's a project that's very close to some people's hearts so sometimes those differences of opinions aren't so much black and white, but a little bit more personal and sometimes I think it's hard to move past that," Lang said.
The board is down to nine members, but Lang insists the restoration effort--despite what one former board member suggested to us—has not come off the rails.
"It actually kind of sped things up," Lang said. "I mean, I appreciated the dialogue and the conversation but it reaches a point where when the majority agrees, you should be moving on, and not returning to the same argument or debate."
Lang predicts 2015 will bring more events that are public to a re-opened main concourse after roof repairs...everything from maybe the return of car and train shows, to smaller affairs.
"The amount of requests we get for wedding photos, wedding receptions, private meetings and conferences in this unique location is outstanding," he said. "We probably average 3 to 4 requests a day."
Moreover, while there could be more, funding remains elusive.
They have nowhere near the $70 million estimated to restore the entire terminal and no indication they will ever get it,
Despite the renaissance being felt in other parts of Buffalo, it is the feeling of some that this place continues to be left by the tracks.
"Some areas of the city are just riper for development," said Lang. "At this point, we have more of an uphill battle on the east side of the city…not just with the terminal but just the east side in general."
Hundreds of thousands of dollars raised through grants and donations over the years, have been spent just to keep the place from crumbling further, and Lang describes it as a constant balancing act to advance potential development of the terminal, and stabilize it at the same time.
Lang says developers both locally and from out of town continue to show interest, and another request for proposal for a mixed use development, will go out in February.
