Most HotBuffalo readers are familiar with 2 Girard Place, maybe not by the address but due to it’s visibility from the Kensington Expressway. Located on the corner of Girard Place and Humboldt Parkway – to me, it was an Icon.It symbolized what once was and what possibly could be again but now, it is gone.

What once was:A lovely, Queen-Anne style home built at the turn of the century on a beautiful, Frederick Law Olmstead designed parkway. The parkway was destroyed by the construction of the Kensington Expressway in the early 1960’s and approximately forty-five years later, 2 Girard Place has followed. See the Death of Humboldt Parkway .

What could have been: Rehabilitation? Restoration? NO. The property was foreclosed in 2002 and ended up in the hands of the City and with Mayor Brown’s “5 in 5 Plan” in place, this means demolition. I will admit that this area of the city is not the nicest but is demolishing a home like this the answer, especially when the average cost to demolish a home is $17,000? (A cost footed by you and I – the City tax payer.)

The best that this corner can hope for is a non-descript, “Vinyl Victorian”, new-build home but most likely you will see another “urban prairie”, filled with trash and overgrown weeds.

Perhaps I long for all things old and cling to the past but is the “5 in 5 Plan” the answer? I don’t think so. Feel free to comment.

2 Girard Place “hope and history” can be found on FixBuffalo.com.

Here’s another “success story” courtesy of the “5 in 5 Plan”.