WEST SIDE EXTREME MAKEOVER
The tale of Delores Powell and her family will air for the nation to see this evening on ABC’s “Extreme Makeover Home Edition.” The West Side family was recipient of Ty Pennington and crew’s promise to raze their decrepit dwelling and resurrect a new, fully customized home in just a week’s time.
Construction was led by local contractor David Stapleton and behind the scenes, my church, The Tabernacle in Orchard Park (thetab.org) was heavily involved in this Massachusetts Avenue resuscitation effort.
Thanks to a fiery Irishman named Jim McGinnis (ok, I don’t know his ancestry for certain, but with a name like McGinnis, I think Irish is a safe bet), who is on the board at The Tabernacle, the congregation was heavily involved in the Extreme Makeover project. In fact, countless volunteers from the community reached out, and an entire West Side neighborhood received a facelift, testament to the charitable spirit of Buffalonians.
McGinnis tends to be a windy guy. In fact, after hearing him drone on and on in church prior to Extreme Makeover, I’d say he’s all but eaten the Blarney Stone. So it surprised me how little of the media coverage was devoted to the effort my church put into the project.
Digging through Buffalo News archives I did, however, find one column by Donn Esmonde where he had interviewed McGinnis and talked about our church. (Esmonde is my favorite local columnist; I must’ve missed that one.) The tone of the column was disappointing. Esmonde, while praising The Tabernacle volunteers and outreach efforts, batters the community of Orchard Park for its perceived suburban snobbiness. This undoubtedly was fallout from the proposed senior-living facility that caused a stir in Orchard Park this past fall.
Sometimes I wonder, though, did my church go far enough to bolster the public relations potential of its involvement? This isn’t about looking for praise, but rather promoting a progressive church in the Buffalo community.
MY VIEW ON THE MAKEOVER IS DIFFERENT THAN DAVE'S
A week ago yesterday, Tonawanda resident and Meals on Wheels Volunteer Dave Hyzy was featured in the “My View” op-ed column. His premise? Questioning whether the lottery-style hand out of an extreme makeover was really the way to help a community with so much need. Maybe it wasn’t the “fairest” distribution of wealth, but Extreme Makeover is going to happen whether we like it or not. It’s sensational television; it boosts ABC’s ratings; it gets advertisers to air commercials. Take it or leave it, this was a community outreach like Buffalo has never seen before. I’m glad my church chose to use this event in a positive manner.
POWELL AT THE PULPIT
This morning at church we had some surprise guests including Delores Powell, her three children, and David Stapleton. Hearing Powell in her fluent, but unmistakably Caribbean English, tell her side of the story was quite interesting. Jim McGinnis was his usual boisterous self. Dad confused David Stapleton (a plainclothes, middle-class contractor) for Ty Pennington. It definitely was a service to not forget…
Tonight “Extreme Makeover” will air its two-hour Buffalo rebirth episode. It’ll be nice to see Buffalo get some national press that, for a change, doesn’t involve record-breaking snowfall.
(I took a cell phone photo of our unexpected church guests today. Unfortunately, it was unusable. Perhaps the punishment for playing with my phone during church?)
Showing posts with label Donn Esmonde. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Donn Esmonde. Show all posts
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
The Statler and Legal Ramifications
The latest in the Statler drama? An idea for UB School of Law relocating into the downtown icon has been floated. Representative Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, is among those advocating for UB to consider the Roaring-Twenties era hotel as a suitable new home for UB Law.
The case made by Higgins and other proponents of the plan is a compelling one. Besides finding a useful new purpose for the Statler, having the law school there would put budding lawyers right at the doorstep of over 40 law firms and downtown courthouses. The building could be used not only for academic space, but also for student housing. The Statler is huge; I imagine they could have recreational/fitness facilities, moot courtrooms, library facilities, and more housed within those three high rises.
Columnist Donn Esmonde goes so far as to make it appear that relocating to and reviving the Statler is all but UB Law's duty. He portrays it as a service to the taxpayers whose money no doubt subsidizes the university. Esmonde is a columnist, and therefore paid to share his opinion.
However, one has to wonder about a few things. First, the costs of repair and renovation converting an old hotel into a law school would not come inexpensively. Are taxpayers going to foot that bill through "public" grants and federal/state funding? Will students pay for it in increased fees and tuition? Probably a mixture of both. Since UB Law is slated to move to South Campus anyway, which move would cost more—UB South or the Statler? I can't answer that question, but I have my suspicions.
Parking is another issue, and not one to take lightly. Parking is already expensive and limited in downtown Buffalo. Unless there are plans to stick a garage under Statler (an expensive conversion for sure), where are all these bright, strapping young lawyers and their wise professors going to leave their cars? Park & Ride? Metro Rail? Sounds like a logistical nightmare. I'd hate to be on the I-190 in morning rush hour with a glut of ambitious legal scholars on the road—it'd be like a real-time case study—just imagine the lawsuits that would stem from fender benders on this already congested beltway? (Ok, semi-joking on that last one, but traffic would be an issue.)
If anyone knows it's possible to take wasted space and turn it into a law school, it's me. From 2003 at its inception, I watched as Liberty University Law was chartered, staffed, and an old Sony/Ericsson factory was converted into top-notch academic space. LU Law was granted provisional accreditation in near-record time, and the first class of lawyers marched with me in commencement 2007. I can also tell you horror stories of traffic and parking on the LU campus.
But anyway, while a compelling idea definitly worth some serious study, I think UB Law should be left to do ultimately what it feels is best for the school and its 2020 future outlook. It may in fact be more of a taxpayer burden to renovate the old Statler. School officals thus far have considered the idea, but remain opposed to it. Meanwhile, I'll be watching to see what becomes of the old dinosaur living on Niagara Square.
The case made by Higgins and other proponents of the plan is a compelling one. Besides finding a useful new purpose for the Statler, having the law school there would put budding lawyers right at the doorstep of over 40 law firms and downtown courthouses. The building could be used not only for academic space, but also for student housing. The Statler is huge; I imagine they could have recreational/fitness facilities, moot courtrooms, library facilities, and more housed within those three high rises.
Columnist Donn Esmonde goes so far as to make it appear that relocating to and reviving the Statler is all but UB Law's duty. He portrays it as a service to the taxpayers whose money no doubt subsidizes the university. Esmonde is a columnist, and therefore paid to share his opinion.
However, one has to wonder about a few things. First, the costs of repair and renovation converting an old hotel into a law school would not come inexpensively. Are taxpayers going to foot that bill through "public" grants and federal/state funding? Will students pay for it in increased fees and tuition? Probably a mixture of both. Since UB Law is slated to move to South Campus anyway, which move would cost more—UB South or the Statler? I can't answer that question, but I have my suspicions.
Parking is another issue, and not one to take lightly. Parking is already expensive and limited in downtown Buffalo. Unless there are plans to stick a garage under Statler (an expensive conversion for sure), where are all these bright, strapping young lawyers and their wise professors going to leave their cars? Park & Ride? Metro Rail? Sounds like a logistical nightmare. I'd hate to be on the I-190 in morning rush hour with a glut of ambitious legal scholars on the road—it'd be like a real-time case study—just imagine the lawsuits that would stem from fender benders on this already congested beltway? (Ok, semi-joking on that last one, but traffic would be an issue.)
If anyone knows it's possible to take wasted space and turn it into a law school, it's me. From 2003 at its inception, I watched as Liberty University Law was chartered, staffed, and an old Sony/Ericsson factory was converted into top-notch academic space. LU Law was granted provisional accreditation in near-record time, and the first class of lawyers marched with me in commencement 2007. I can also tell you horror stories of traffic and parking on the LU campus.
But anyway, while a compelling idea definitly worth some serious study, I think UB Law should be left to do ultimately what it feels is best for the school and its 2020 future outlook. It may in fact be more of a taxpayer burden to renovate the old Statler. School officals thus far have considered the idea, but remain opposed to it. Meanwhile, I'll be watching to see what becomes of the old dinosaur living on Niagara Square.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
