Campaign wins preliminary injunction in battle to save Great Northern

Appellate Court to hear case to overturn emergency demo order by April

The Campaign for Greater Buffalo History, Architecture & Culture has been granted a preliminary injunction to preserve the Great Northern grain elevator pending a decision by the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division for the Fourth Department on the issues raised by the Campaign regarding an emergency demolition order issued by the City of Buffalo and a lower court ruling favoring the City early last month.

“We are glad that the court agreed with the need for an injunction to prevent any action to demolish the Great Northern,” said Campaign attorney Richard Berger. Campaign lead attorney Richard Lippes said “We are grateful that the appellate court recognized the importance of the Great Northern to Buffalo and beyond."

The Campaign sued the City of Buffalo and Archer Daniels Midland Milling to block the emergency demolition in December in State Supreme Court. The elevator sustained damage to its brick cladding during a windstorm on December 11. On December 17 the city issued an emergency demolition order. The Campaign contends that the building is structural sound, that demolition is unnecessary, and that ADM should be required to repair and maintain the building, which they have not done during its ownership dating to 1993. The Great Northern has been a designated Buffalo landmark since 1990.

Starting with the classic Friday-Afternoon-Special-During-Holiday-Season demo order, the Campaign has been battling hard to save one of the city's most important buildings. Things don't let up: the process is being expedited, with records and papers  due by March 1, two weeks from today. The case will be heard in the term beginning March 28. A decision would be expected sometime in June.

"We're optimistic about winning on the merits," said Campaign Executive Director Tim Tielman. "We're thankful to all those who have contributed their time and treasure to date. There are thousands of dollars in additional expenses ahead, so we hope Western New Yorkers can contribute to us get the Great Northern over the finish line.

Download  preliminary injunction