BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Neighbors on Crowley Avenue in buffalo said they have had to endure two fires in two weeks.
“I think it’s an outcry, it’s something that people are trying to say listen, we don’t want this thing here anymore,” Richard Olson said.
Richard Olson grew up across from 308 Crowley, the former King Sewing Machine Plant. He said he is ready to see it come down.
“It’s just been an eyesore on this whole block for as long as I can remember,” Olson said.
North District Council MemberJoe Golombek said the wait might finally come to an end, but Olson still has his doubts.
“If everything works out, by the end of this month, if not sooner, we are going to see much of this building come down,” Golombek said.
“We hear what people are saying, they’re going to tear it down, they’re going to do this, that and the other, but nothing ever gets done,” Olson said. “I’m 39 now, it’s been here all my life.”
Golombek said parts of the building will not be torn down, like the smokestack and tower.
“Saving this building in its entirety was not common sense,” he said. “Whether it’s a firefighter, a police officer, a kid from the neighborhood, somebody’s going to get hurt here.”
But both Golombek and Olson agreed, the building's days are numbered.
“The darn thing has got to come down,” Golombek said.
“Even a parking lot would be better, that’s what I think,” Olson said.
Golombek told me they have a few ideas for what the new property will be including a possible two-or-three story senior citizen home, but he said that’s still a year or two away from coming to fruition.
