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GIBSON LOMBARD MARKETPLACE Historic Polonia District, Buffalo, New York Gibson Street, Lombard Street, South Market Street, Sienkiewicz Place, Kent Street
Lombard Street, March 2, 2011
UPDATES/NEWS
March 28, 2011: Popular tavern, The Three Deuces, at 222 Gibson to close. Owner sells property.
April 1, 2011: Fire & demo of residential home at 210 Gibson
The urban streetscape around the Broadway Public Market is in grave jeopardy of being lost forever.Neglect and demolition are erasing Gibson and Lombard Streets from the Historic Polonia District. The preservation of these streets is VITAL to the future growth and development of Buffalo's Public Market and the surrounding neighborhood.
FROM TURN OF THE CENTURY MARKETPLACE TO POST-WAR PARKING GARAGE
Urban Renewal of the 1950s Severs the Indoor Energy of the Market from Neighborhood
The Broadway Public Market wall: Westside of Lombard Street
Prior to the building of the current Broadway Public Market structure in the mid-50s, the Market was a mix of indoor and outdoor retailers. For the most part, outdoor produce stands surrounded a large Victorian-era structure that housed butchers and bakeries.
Increased usage of the automobile in the 1950s, completion of newly built suburban plazas, a need for parking for the entire Broadway/Fillmore Shopping District and calls to build a modern market structure resulted in the current building opening in 1956. What resulted was a parking garage with a public market on the ground level.The interaction of market vendors with the neighboring streets was sealed off within concrete walls and non-descript entrances.
View of the Broadway Market in 1951. Wrap around canopy hosted outdoor market vendors year-round. Lombard Street buildings including Zolte's & Ledermann's Furniture are seen towards the top.
Broadway Public Market's Lombard St. side.
A vintage postcard view of the Broadway Market circa 1915-1919. The vantage point is the corner of Broadway & Gibson Street. Steeples of Corpus Christi Church can be seen peering over the Market’s roofline.
Courier Express 10/17/1946 - click image to enlarge
Buffalo Evening News: 3/3/1956
Why is saving the Gibson/Lombard Marketplace Important?
1)Demolitions in the Polonia District, over the last 5 years, has resulted in the loss of a critical mass of both commercial and residential structures. Demo'd sites around the Market, specifically the stretch of Gibson Street from Broadway to Sienkiewicz, are quickly creating a parking ramp surrounded by parking lots.
2)The loss of buildings will limit the ability to apply for State or National Historic District designations that will allow owners preservation tax credits and other development funds. Gibson & Lombard Streets might provide the structural density needed to apply for such preservation programs.
3) While preserving the entire Polonia District is now impossible, a concerted effort to SAVE Gibson and Lombard Streets will provide future generations the ability to experience the former urban density of this unique urban environment.
4) While building a modern Broadway Public Market on its current site might not be possible, development of both commercial and residential structures around the market will return street vitality back to the neighborhood and enhance the visitor's experience.
Gibson Street, April 2004
NO TIME TO WASTE; ACTION NEEDED NOW
218 Gibson comes down (May 2010). Could this be the fate for other structures on Gibson and Lombard Streets?
Efforts to preserve the unique urban fabric of Gibson & Lombard Streets, the residential and commercial corridors that boarder the Broadway Public Market in the Historic Polonia District, experienced a major setback. On Wednesday March 29th, fire destroyed a 2 ½ story home at 210 Gibson. Emergency demolition brought the remains of the home down a few days later. The demolition of 210 Gibson follows the removal of 218 Gibson, a former tavern, last May. A neighboring home in deteriorating condition at 214 Gibson most likely will be torn down this spring.
Parking lots are preventable. Over the last 15 years, Gibson from Broadway to Sienkiewicz has been cleared for surface parking.
Same view as above taken during the early 1950s. Gibson from Broadway to Sienkiewicz. Prior to the building of the current Market, Gibson and Lombard Streets were filled with sights and sound of Buffalo's public market.
1956 construction photo of Market shows upper floors of Gibson Street buildings. Most of these structures were demo'd for parking in the 90s.
1956 construction photo: Lombard at Broadway.
Lombard at Broadway, same view, Feb. 28, 2011
WHAT REMAINS?
ADDRESS
OWNER (as listed on City of Buffalo Website as of 2/26/11)
USE
STATUS (as of 2/26/11)
NOTES
GIBSON STREET
232 Gibson
PAULREDLINSKI & SONS
Commercial/Residential
Occupied
Operates at the Market Bar
230 Gibson
MALCZEWSKI DONALD ; JAMES MALCZEWSKI
Commercial/Residential
Occupied
244 Gibson
YWCA OF WNY INC.
Commercial/Residential
Unoccupied
Former Tavern known as the Schuper House
222 Gibson
BERGMANN EDWARD & ANNA
Commercial/Residential
Occupied
Operated as the Three Deuces
218 Gibson
CITY BUFFALO PERFECTING TITLE
Commercial/Residential
Torn Down
May 2011, Torn down despite requests to City for preservation
214 Gibson
BORTON RAFAEL
Residential
Unoccupied
In extremely poor condition
212 Gibson
THOMAS YOUNG
Residential
Unoccupied
In extremely poor condition
210 Gibson
BRIAN NORRIS
Residential
Unoccupied
Fire & Demo March 29-31, 2011
200 Gibson
WINGERTER KAREN
Commercial; auto garage
Occupied
Former Fred Gillogly Chevrolet garage; showroom on Broadway.
LOMBARD STREET
243 Lombard
MARKET SQUARE AT 1021
Commercial
Occupied
Former Zolte’s Furniture Store
239 Lombard
MARKET SQUARE AT 1021
Commercial
Occupied
Former Zolte’s Furniture Store
237 Lombard
MARKET SQUARE AT 1021
Commercial
Occupied
Former Ledermann Furniture Store
233 Lombard
LEWCZYK NICHOLAS
Commercial/Residential
Unoccupied
Former restaurant
227 Lombard
LEWCZYK NICHOLAS
Commercial/Residential
Unoccupied
Former travel agent
225 Lombard
LEWCZYK NICHOLAS
Residential
Occupied
221 Lombard
MICHEL RICHARD A
Commercial/Residential
Occupied
Operates at Dick’s Eastside Inn
213 Lombard
MICHEL RICHARD A
Commercial/Residential
Unoccupied
Former Liquor Store
211 Lombard
CITY BUFFALO PERFECTING TITLE
Commercial/Residential
Unoccupied
Former Krajink’s Tavern; In extremely poor condition
204 Lombard
CHUDY PAPER CO INC
Retail/Warehouse
Unoccupied
In extremely poor condition
195 Lombard
GOMEZ PHILLIP DANIEL
Residential
Unoccupied
In extremely poor condition
193 Lombard
BUFFALO COMMONS, LLC
Restaurant/residential
Occupied
Former Polonia Restaurant
191 Lombard
Buffalo Commons. LLC
Residential
Occupied
187 Lombard
JABLONSKI EDWIN
Commercial/Residential
Unknown
181 Lombard
WOZNIAK ANTHONY
Residential
Occupied
179 Lombard
FERGUSON PHILLIP
Residential
Occupied
UPDATED April 1, 2011
GIBSON STREET: South from Broadway to South Market
232 Gibson Street: Current home of the Market Bar. Built around 1910
230 Gibson Street: Currently owned by Malczewski Poultry
224 Gibson Street: UNOCCUPIED; Currently owned by the YWCA of WNY. Former site of the Schuper House Rest.
222 Gibson Street: Current site of the Three Dueces Tavern. The property was recently sold by owner Ed Bergmann (Feb 2010 update)
As recently as 2010, the block of Gibson from Sienkiewicz to South Market was one continuous stretch of structures. In May of 2010, the a former tavern at 218 Gibson was torn down; next to go was 210 Gibson on Right (Mar. 2011). (image taken on Feb, 25, 2011)
218 Gibson: The FIRST to go. Former tavern demo'd in May 2010.
214 Gibson Street: An abandon home ready for demo. Property info currently lists RAFAEL BORTON as owner (updated Feb. 2011). This structure is listed in the 2005 Intensive Level Hstioric Resources Survey of the Brodway Fillmore Neighborhood.
212 Gibson Street: Currently owned by Thomas Young (update Feb. 2011)
210 Gibson Street: GONE - Fire & Demo; March 2011. City records show this house being owned by BRIAN NORRIS.
200 Gibson Street: Currently used as auto repair garage.
LOMBARD STREET: North from South Market to Broadway
Looking SOUTH down Lombard. The post-war wall of the Broadway Market on right cuts off the market’s activity from the rest of the neighborhood. Developing the Lombard & Gibson Marketplace will provide a lively street atmosphere not seen since the mid-50s.
243 Lombard: Former Zolte's, later Victor's Furniture Store
239-241 Lombard Street: Built in 1929 as a furniture store for Charles Lederman, whose name adorns the parapet in an Art Deco stone panel.
233 Lombard Street
227 Lombard Street
Former restaurant and travel agency on Lombard
225 Lombard Street: According to City listings, this property is owned by Nicholas Lewczyk
221 Lombard Street: One of the Polonia District's classic taverns; Dick's Eastside Inn. Click image to see vintage pictures and to learn more.
213 Lombard before being stripped of awning and vintage signage (2005)
213 Lombard Street: A former liquor store owned by the owners of Dick’s Eastside Inn.
211 Lombard Street: UNOCCUPIED; former tavern
At least two out of the three buildings are unoccupied.
LOMBARD STREET: Three UNOCCUPIED structures include a former store, tavern and warehouse.
205 Lombard Street: UNOCCUPIED; According to City records, owned by Chudy Paper Company, Inc. (as of Feb 2011)
195 Lombard Street: UNOCCUPIED; According to City records owned by Phillip Gomez
193 Lombard Street: According to City records owned by BUFFALO COMMONS, LLC
191 Lombard Street: According to City records owned by BUFFALO COMMONS, LLC
Picture of 193 Gibson, as the Polonia Restaurant, appears in the book Buffalo Architecture: A Guide (1981)
March 2, 2011
187 Lombard Street: According to City records owned by Ed Jablonski of Jabco General Store.
181 Lombard Street: According to City records owned by Anthony Wozniak
179 Lombard Street: According to City records owned by Phillip Ferguson
Lombard Street: Feb. 28, 2011 - click on image for larger view.
The Market Bar located at the corner of Gibson and Sienkiewicz Place
Sienkiewicz Place connects Fillmore Avenue to Gibson Street near the west side of the Broadway Public Market. Originally named Stettenbenz Street after one of Buffalo pioneer German citizens and master baker Anton Stettenbenz. Its name was changed during WWI to honor Polish journalist and Nobel Prize-winning novelist Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846-1916). The establishment of a Save-A-Lot store in the 90s on the Market’s Gibson side has transformed the secondary doorway at Gibson & Sienkiewicz into the Market’s most used entrance way. Although no longer a tenant at the Market, Redlinski Meats still owns and operates a production facility at 19 Sienkiewicz. Redlinski also owns the famous Market Bar at the corner. On the north side of Sienkiewicz is surface parking.
Sienkiewicz Place looking towards Market. Redlinski's Building and Market Bar are on right.
Gibson Lombard Marketplace Memories
211 Lombard
1894 Ward Map of Market area. Note size of building and the amount of "marketplace" area.
