As Buffalo and the Catholic Diocese have closed schools, the buildings have gone off-line and into an aging and empty status. Now, the demand for better housing is making some of the buildings more attractive for re-use.
When Buffalo had 100,000 kids in public schools and there were parochial schools across the city, the buildings were centers of life as students, teachers and administrators arrived and left year-round. Then, they were closed.
Some were immediately turned to other uses. Some have been sitting for years, empty with vandalism and weeds.
Councilmember Rasheed Wyatt has been pushing the new owners of School 63 on Minnesota to keep up the building while they plan for conversion.
"I go back by there quite frequently. Because I don't want you to just have this building and hold on until you get your additional money, but maintain it because we've been tired of seeing an eyesore," Wyatt said.
"I don't see it every day but my residents do, people that vote me in, they see it and they shouldn't have to see that while you have it in your possession."
Wyatt says the new owners have a plan and just have to put the finances together. On the West Side, PUSH Buffalo is dealing with School 77 Near Plymouth and Normal which the group plans to turn into housing and a neighborhood center. City officials say turning these building back into living centers helps the neighborhoods they are built into.
