Additional money was spent on the $5.2 million Lincoln Historic Building

In late 2020, the county resurrected the former 1893 Ticor building at the intersection of Franklin and West Eagle streets, spending $5.4 million to renovate it, thanks to an earlier influx of federal aid. But the financial burden of restoring the historic building didn’t stop there.

The county’s public works department plans to spend about $3 million to restore historic windows and other exterior features of the building, renamed the Lincoln Building, starting with $500,000 in design work next year.

Adding to the building’s needs is an order issued by the city of Buffalo’s Department of Permits and Inspections last year requiring the county to address peeling and flaking lead paint and holes in the building’s eaves below the roofline, or face daily fines.

The county legislature on Thursday approved the administration to spend up to $700,000 to address exterior issues related to painting and eaves repairs at the renovated county offices, which currently house health and probation staff, as well as training facilities on the upper floor. Money for the Lincoln Building project will come from other existing and available funds in the Department of Public Works.

Such spending is part of the territory when it comes to saving and reusing historic structures, Public Works Commissioner William Geary said.

“When you have old stock, it’s expensive,” he said. “It’s extremely expensive.”

The county has a number of historic properties that are costly to protect and renovate, including the old County Hall and historic park structures such as the Chestnut Ridge Park Casino and the Wendt Mansion in Evans, which was approved for a $6 million renovation with federal stimulus funds in 2021.

On Thursday, the county legislature also approved additional funding to address “unforeseen structural and deteriorating conditions” at the county-owned 1823 Schenk House on the Grover Cleveland Golf Course property, which is already undergoing $1.6 million in work.

The county has struggled to save and reuse some of these buildings because of their high cost. But the federal bailout and CARES Act funding following the arrival of COVID-19 have allowed many properties threatened with decay to find new life.

The 1833 Lincoln Building, formerly known as the Ticor Building, sits across from the Rath County Administration Building. It is believed to be the oldest known building still standing in the heart of downtown, according to a feasibility study by Watts Architecture and Engineering. The county purchased the building for nearly $1.4 million in 2001, a few years before the county’s financial crisis.

The building originally housed the First Unitarian Church. John Quincy Adams attended a service there in 1843 at the invitation of church member Millard Fillmore, who would become president seven years later. Abraham Lincoln, for whom the building was renamed, received the same invitation from Fillmore and attended a service in 1861.

But it is best known for being home to a title company that first occupied the building in 1886 as Buffalo Abstract and Title, and later became Ticor Title and Guarantee Company. That company continued to operate there until 2000.

“Covid really saved this building because we identified funding from the federal government,” Geary said.

The county completed a $5.2 million renovation in 2021, which included a new roof. The Lincoln building was initially used, in part, as a call center for Covid-19 contact tracers. If another public health emergency arises, Geary said, the building has the wiring to return to that function. It now houses some health department and probation department staff, who can no longer be fully confined to the family court building.

The current plan to comply with the City of Buffalo’s order to address the building’s lead paint is to hire a contractor who can scrape off any loose paint and seal the remaining lead-based paint with a new coating that is safe and also waterproof. It’s part of the final phase of the construction project, which was always going to include other exterior improvements, Geary said, but was moved forward in light of the city’s advice.