The City of Buffalo has given residents living a West Side street the green light to keep the original brick surface recently uncovered by a street crew.
Ardmore Place, which runs off of Richmond Avenue, was one of several West Side streets the city planned to re-pave this summer. But when crews began to remove the old blacktop, the original bricks were discovered. That's when a majority of residents decided they wanted to keep the brick surface.
Public Works Commissioner Steve Stepniak says after assessing the situation, it was determined the brick could remain.
"The only thing we have to do here is touch up the ends, the radiuses, that we're going to do and adjust the driveways. There's no additional cost. Basically, the cost is a wash because of the asphalt that we're not putting down. So it was a win-win for everybody and I'm excited to be a part of it," Stepniak says.
Ardmore Place Block Club President Renee Wiedemer said residents embraced the discovery of the old surface and began working to clean off the old pavement.
"Hosing it down, brushing it, sweeping it. We had little kids out who were sweeping and brushing. It was an exciting thing from old to young, everybody just really came behind this," said Wiedemer. "Everybody played critical roles."
Mayor Byron Brown appeared on Ardmore Place late Thursday morning to announce the city would retain the brick surface.
"As you all know, the neighborhood really mobilized," said Brown.
Dom Parisi, who has lived on Ardmore for about 50 years, says he is thrilled.
"We made the phone call on a Monday, and the following Monday, we got the okay that it was going to be done. I'm really amazed," Parisi says.
Parisi says he recalls his late wife being upset in the 1960s when the brick was first paved over.
The brick street traces back more than 100 years.