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Judge lifts restraining order on Great Northern demolition

The Great Northern grain elevator, pictured in July 2022, remains damaged after a December 2021 windstorm. A New York State Supreme Court justice lifted a temporary restraining order on the structure's demolition July 5, 2022.
Mike Desmond
/
WBFO News
The Great Northern grain elevator, pictured in July 2022, remains damaged after a December 2021 windstorm. A New York State Supreme Court justice lifted a temporary restraining order on the structure's demolition July 5, 2022.

A New York State Supreme Court justice has lifted a temporary restraining order on the City of Buffalo’s emergency demolition of the Great Northern grain elevator.

The Ganson Street structure’s outer wall was severely damaged in a windstorm last December. A large section of its northern wall collapsed, exposing the silos within. Its owner, Archer Daniels Midland, has sought to have the building torn down and the City of Buffalo, following an inspection, granted an emergency demolition order.

But the Campaign for Buffalo History Architecture and Culture sued to block the demolition order, arguing the structure can be saved and noting its standing as the last remaining box-style grain elevator in North America.

However, Justice Emilio Colaiacovo, in a 47-page decision Tuesday, ruled that the preservationist organization “failed to show that the [the city’s decision to demolish] was irrational or arbitrary.”

It was the third time the judge has ruled against the preservation organization. Colaiacovo ruled against the group in December and January, but an appellate court ordered a new hearing after concluding that Colaiacovo refused to consider the group's evidence when first allowing the emergency demolition.

Still, a new hearing did not change Colaiacovo’s decision.

“Nostalgia and attraction does not warrant reaching a conclusion that is contrary to the facts,” Colaiacovo wrote.

ADM milling now has until Aug. 12 to file a motion to dismiss the preservationists' petition.

Michael Mroziak is an experienced, award-winning reporter whose career includes work in broadcast and print media. When he joined the WBFO news staff in April 2015, it was a return to both the radio station and to Horizons Plaza.
Tom Dinki joined WBFO in August 2019 to cover issues affecting older adults.
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