At a symposium regarding Buffalo's historical grain elevators held at Erie Community College on Saturday, Oct. 12, professors and students gathered to discuss the fate of the colossal structures lining Buffalo's waterfront.
Grain elevators are cylindrical structures used in Buffalo from the turn of the century until 1954 for the purpose of storing grain, before barges transported it to various parts of the nation, said Lynda Schneekloth, the co-director of the Grain Elevator Project and professor of architecture at UB.
Out of the 17 elevators left, only a few are still used for their original purposes, she said. The others are abandoned.
"We would like to bring the grain elevators back into the attention of the public," said Schneekloth. "They're some of the few large industrial artifacts that we have left."
The symposium was broken up into two parts. The first portion was held in the morning, regarding the history of the grain elevators, and the second featured a discussion on future plans for the structures.
Mark Maio, an international documentary photographer, explained the historical significance of the grain elevators and showed pictures of the elevators and the immigrants who worked in them.
"It's not about the structures that are still there, but also about the people that lived in them and worked on them," said Maio.
Maio said he saw the need for UB students to get involved in the elevator project.
"Most of the students at UB are from the Buffalo area," he said. "It's their history that we're talking about."
Maio offered some ideas about how the abandoned elevators could be utilized in the future, such as using the land around the elevators for festival grounds or even turning the elevators into a recycling facility.
Hwan Choi, also a second-year graduate student in architecture, said the preservation of the elevators is important because of their historical significance.
"The grain elevator is the starting point of the modern architectural movement," Choi said. "If we change the shape or the function of the elevators, the value is gone."
During the second part of the symposium, Hadas Steiner, assistant professor of architectural history, and Michael Frisch, a senior research scholar and history professor at UB, discussed the elevators' architectural significance and how they could be used to attract tourists to Buffalo.
According to Steiner, the structure of the buildings themselves influenced many modern European architects, and for that reason alone the buildings are significant.
In addition, the elevators were built in such a way that they prevented the grain from combusting in extremely high temperatures.
Due to Buffalo's close proximity to Niagara Falls, Frisch said the elevators could become a tourist attraction, though he realized that the elevators alone would not be enough to draw tourists. He suggested making the elevators one stop in a tour of Buffalo's attractions.
Frisch discussed possible tours into which the elevators could be incorporated, such as a "grain tour," a "boat tour" or a "beer tour" of Buffalo.
With added attractions, Frisch said, tourists would have more reasons to frequent Buffalo and pump some money into the struggling economy.
Whatever is done with the elevators, Frisch said, people recognize the need to tie Buffalo's history to its future. "We've got the stories, the real question is what are we going to do with them?" he said.
"The biggest potential for this region is tourism," said Schneekloth. "Buffalo can't renew itself on manufacturing - it needs to find a new future."
