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Fire in besieged buildings in Buffalo Cobblestone District

Buffalo firefighters continue to battle a double-alarm fire that broke out shortly before 8 p.m. Tuesday at a historic building in the Cobblestone neighborhood that has been at the center of a dispute between the city and its owner.

Photos on social media showed flames shooting from the roof and upper windows of the four-story brick structure at South Park Avenue and the corner of Illinois Street.







Cobblestone Historic District

Historic buildings at 110, left, and 118 South Park in Buffalo.


Libby March/Buffalo News



Court ruling moves city closer to taking on troubled Cobblestone District properties

The Appellate Division ruled against an appeal of a March 2023 Common Council decision allowing the city to take control of two blighted properties in the Cobblestone Historic District.

Fire Commissioner William Renaldo, speaking from the scene around 9:30 p.m., said 50 to 60 firefighters were battling the blaze, which started on the first floor and spread throughout the building. They included units that were called to the Monday morning fire on Allen Street that destroyed the iconic bar known as the Old Pink.

Conservationist Tim Tielman observed the firefighting efforts Tuesday evening and told the Buffalo News that the historic facades of buildings along South Park Avenue and Illinois Street appeared intact.

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Tielman, who conducted the research that led to the creation of the Cobblestone Historic District, said the buildings are the centerpiece of the area’s heritage.

“It’s the only pre-Civil War building remaining on the Buffalo waterfront,” Tielman said. “It’s saddening to see this happening, but people need to keep fighting for this.”

The city won a ruling from the state Supreme Court’s Appellate Division in March that brought it closer to taking over the properties at 110 South Park, built in 1852, and 118 South Park, built in 1869, by eminent domain to prevent them from further deterioration.

Scaffolding had been placed on the corner of the building at South Park and Illinois to protect passersby from falling bricks.

Darryl Carr and Park Avenue Estates purchased the buildings in 2003 and 2008, planning to demolish everything except the facades and build a high-rise building there.