Our stance of the Great Northern Grain Elevator situation
The board has voted to act swiftly to reach out to the city for a hold on demolition. On December 16th, the AIA Buffalo WNY sent a letter to Mayor Byron Brown's office requesting a 60-day moratorium on any demolition plans until further structural analysis can be done which might impact alternative uses and interest. We join many in the community who share this same sentiment and stand behind preserving this 124 year old structure.
Image Source: https://picryl.com/media/great-northern-elevator-and-shipping-buffalo-ny
Historical Significance
The 1897 Great Northern Elevator is the only surviving brick box elevator in North America.
It is the oldest surviving elevator in Buffalo’s Grain Silo District. This carries significant value as Buffalo is the city where the grain elevator was invented —an innovation which was then exported the world over (arguably one of Buffalo’s greatest contributions to the world). The oldest and only surviving example of this type should matter greatly in this unique context.
The Great Northern’s location on the Buffalo River renders it an icon of the historically and architecturally significant collection of grain silos, which label Buffalo as the "elevator capital" of America.
The Great Northern is the only steel structure among the existing collection in Buffalo; the rest are concrete. Designed by Max Toltz, the Great Northern was acclaimed as "among the most important engineering works of modern times." It was one of the first cost effective and thermally efficient methods of bulk grain storage.
It serves as a primary example of the city's historic role as the center of transportation and commerce in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Significance Today
The Great Northern’s significance is not only as an international marvel of engineering and architecture, but also as a cherished monument to the morphological and cultural evolution of the city—as an icon of our history in terms of labor, immigration, urban development, the shaping of our waterfront, industrial heritage, national legacy, etc. Further, the elevators that remain stand as permanent fixtures in the collective memory of now seven+ generations of Buffalonians.
Buffalo’s collection of grain silos on Lake Erie and the Buffalo River are the feature that make our city a unique place in the U.S. and the world. No place else on earth has what we have here.
Travelers from around the globe have been coming to Buffalo just to see the grain elevators since the nineteenth century and through today, further evidencing their national and international significance, and enduring legacy.