Niagara Falls Power Company Distribution Station
Niagara Mohawk Building – Robinson Street at Twin Cities Memorial Hwy.
The Niagara Power station today, courtesy of Museum Trustee and volunteer, Betty A. Brandon
Vital part of North Tonawanda's History
Niagara Falls Power Company Distribution Station then, from the files of A. Daniel Bille, North Tonawanda City Historian
The first transmission of AC electrical current came through North Tonawanda in 1895. The industrialization of North Tonawanda was powered by this 25-cycle current. The same water routes that provided for the lumber industry provided cheaper transportation as well for the other industries. We went from a strip village along the water to an incorporated city in a very short time after electrification.
"Preservation efforts are stalled in NT" by
Sean P. O'Neil
It's time to bring back North Tonawanda 's historical preservation committee.
So says a former member of the now-defunct group.
Donna Zellner Neal said the recent hubbub over the future of the Niagara Mohawk building on Robinson Street is reason enough to reform the group, which hasn't met in more than a year.
Neal, who also is head of the North Tonawanda History Museum Interest Group, said she is ready to get back to the table, but some of the original members of the group are no longer available.
"We had a committee. Unfortunately, it kind of fell off and we couldn't keep it going," she said. "It really needs an alderperson to do that, so we're waiting for someone to pick up the ball."
That ball was dropped when 2nd Ward Alderwoman Rae Proefrock, a founding member of the Carousel Society of the Niagara Frontier, lost her seat to Sue Hempel in January. That, along with some members moving out of the area, as well as other responsibilities, were blamed for the group's demise. Hempel, who has been vocal in her support of preserving the city's boathouses along the Niagara River , said she would be willing to join the group, but not as chairwoman.
"I remember them talking about it. Tim Tielman (a Buffalo preservationist active in the city's boathouse controversy) said we need something like that," she said. "I think it's a definite must. I think we're actually going to address it."
The main reason to start a historical preservation group, according to Neal, is to raise funds to help keep historical buildings standing and prevent a possible landmark building from being razed.
"We need an ordinance (from the Common Council) relating to the establishment of landmarks or historical districts in the city of North Tonawanda ," she said. "That would entitle the city to obtain grants."
Tielman, executive director of the Campaign for Buffalo History, Architecture & Culture, agreed with Neal about the importance of the creation of a preservation code. Tielman has been vocal in his opposition to the city's development plans for the area known as " Boathouse Park ." A preservation code could benefit not only the city, but its residents as well.
"A three-bedroom house in good condition in a historic district is worth 10 to 20 percent more," he said. "It's another tool in the box to help municipalities and homeowners."
It's more than just money that makes the ordinance worthwhile, Tielman added.
"It's the assurance that there will be a process. All these cities that do have preservation ordinances have guidelines to channel new development," he said. "There's no harm in getting a preservation ordinance. Right now, North Tonawanda has no option."
North Tonawanda 's committee hasn't met since last May, but Neal said progress had been made and more can be accomplished once the committee is reformed and meets again.
Credit: Tonawanda News - May 7, 2004
"Are People Worried About Own Interests? North Tonawanda: They don't seem too concerned about preserving history." by Terry Shaw
Something's been troubling me for the past week, ever since we published Tim Schmitt's story on the powerhouse that Niagara Mohawk wants to tear down at the corner of Robinson Street and the Twin City Memorial Highway .
You've probably seen the place at one time or another - an old brick building surrounded by poles, trucks and a cyclone fence. At first glance it's not much to see. But if you take a closer look at the building's history, it tells the story of North Tonawanda and much of Western New York .
Built in 1895 and turned on in 1896, it enabled electricity to be cheaply delivered from Niagara Falls to Buffalo . It also helped turn North Tonawanda into a city in 1897.
It houses electrical artifacts from the 19th century, and enabled Buffalo to host the 1901 Pan-American Exposition.
One person who understands the powerhouse's significance is City Engineer, Dale Marshall. "This is a valid part of our history," he told Schmitt. "If it weren't for that building, the city of North Tonawanda as we know it wouldn't be here. To tear it down makes no sense to me."
I agree. If Niagara Mohawk really cared about this community, the power company would find a way to spare this building, rather than turn it into a parking lot.
What makes even less sense is that the good citizens of NT seem to care less - especially the small minority that embraces the cause of preserving local history whenever it's convenient for them.
Why isn't there a public outcry to save this building?
For example, where are all the people who are in an uproar to save the Weatherbest Slip boathouses?
Surely, the powerhouse is much more historically significant than the 40-odd shacks they're struggling so mightily to protect. These people have actually enlisted a professor from the University of Buffalo , hired lawyers, and put up signs all over town to protect what they're calling a "unique community" in the area where the Erie Barge Canal meets the Niagara River .
You have to give them their due. It certainly is a unique community. I can't imagine very many places in the country where a select few can tie up what is mostly public property for their own personal use. While some of the boathouses are owned by private individuals, most of them sit on land that's leased in a long-standing, sweetheart deal with the city.
My problem with the boathouse gang isn't that they've had a good deal in the past. Who can blame them? I just think they're being hypocritical when they try to pass their little club off as historically important - especially compared to what is one of the most historically important buildings in the city.
Then again, maybe the argument has nothing to do with the history. Maybe the Weatherbest people are just concerned about their own selfish interests, even if those interests come at the expense of the general public.
They aren't the only ones.
You could probably add Niagara Mohawk to the list.
Credit: Tonawanda News - Sunday, May 2, 2004
"Niagara Mohawk applies for permits to raze once-important NT building" by Tonawanda News
John Chimino Sr. believes North Tonawanda is poised for a renaissance.
With its proximity to Buffalo and Niagara Falls , Chimino thinks location might wind up being the city's meal ticket.
"We're a really centralized city," he said. "I think that's what's going to pull us out of this slump. You can get almost anywhere from here pretty quickly."
Ironically, as Chimino peers from the steps of the Robinson Street home he's owned for 50 years, he sees a building that used the same formula -- location, location, location -- to help transform North Tonawanda into a booming city.
But the building, a powerhouse responsible for passing power from Niagara Falls to Buffalo , is in danger of being brought to the ground, victimized by a cost-conscious power company that can't change its rates.
Despite pleas from North Tonawanda City Engineer Dale Marshall and Building Inspector Cosimo Capozzi, contractors working for Niagara Mohawk have applied for permits to raze the building -- a brick structure that houses electrical artifacts from the 19th century.
Marshall , for one, has made a case that the building should remain standing. "This is a vital part of our history," Marshall said. "If it weren't for that building, the city of North Tonawanda as we know it wouldn't be here. To tear it down makes no sense to me. "None."
Bringing The Juice
After the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, some development found its way to the waterway's southern banks. More than 60 years later, little had changed in the area that now comprises North Tonawanda .
But near the turn of the century, after General Electric was given the contract to build transmission and distribution lines from a pair of new generators in Niagara Falls , the city blossomed.
In 1895, a powerhouse in North Tonawanda was completed by the Westinghouse Co. at what is now the corner of the Twin Cities Memorial Highway and Robinson Street . It was prepared to deliver more 15,000 horsepower of electricity -- a staggering achievement at the time.
It was turned on in 1896.
North Tonawanda became a city in 1897.
"So we're sitting on the Erie Canal for this long and very little happens," said Marshall, who has done his homework on the origins of the building and its significance. "And all of a sudden we turn on this powerhouse and a year later we become city. Was this a coincidence? I don't think so."
A product of the alternating current system created by Nikola Tesla, the NT powerhouse made it possible for electric to be cheaply delivered to Buffalo . In 1901, amid a fanfare of lights, Western New York hosted the Pan-American Exposition.
Marshall said it wouldn't have been possible without the NT building -- a point with which City Historian Dan Bille agrees with. "It fed the whole exposition. It even made it possible for North Tonawanda to move from a wood economy to a manufacturing one because of electricity," Bille said. "The most important part of the Niagara Mohawk building is that it made our city grow. It's very important to NT, but just as important to the whole world."
Becoming Obsolete
Although it was once significant. the building is primarily used as a garage today, housing trucks and poles for Niagara Mohawk's day-to-day operations. There is no heat and maneuvering large trucks inside the structure is difficult, according to Niagara Mohawk spokesman Steve Brady.
And after making significant improvements to the site, Brady said the company is considering the removal of the building to allow for more trucks and supplies. The company recently closed an Amherst location and reinvested in the North Tonawanda site.
Although the company, which is owned by National Grid, understands the historical value of the building, Brady said financial factors could force demolition.
"We're trying to find the balance between trying to preserve it and finding a use for it," he said. "We don't disagree the building has history to it. And I wouldn't want to give the impression that we've slammed the door on the possibility of the building being saved. We've been talking to the city to see what avenues we can take."
International Flavors
Marshall realizes North Tonawanda 's desperation to keep jobs in the area. He also understands Niagara Mohawk's plight. But he's really worried the city will cave in, give the company the proper permits to tear the structure down, then find out in a few years that Niagara Mohawk wants to relocate. "In that case, we'll lose the building and the business. Then what do we have?"
Both Bille and Marshall are angry that National Grid, a British-based company, could be calling the shots on the project.
"If they want to demolish it, and it looks like they want to, they can and will. It's private property and we don't have the historic legislative laws to fight their decision," Bille said. "The funny thing is, if we went to Great Britain and told them to tear down an important historic place, an important building from their history, they'd throw us out of the country."
But Brady said the idea has nothing to do with NiMo's parent company. In fact, he said many of the company's decisions have been forced by regulation that fixes power prices. "We're in the third year of a 10-year rate and regulation agreement," he said. "Any good company wants to pay attention to cost control, but we can't adjust our prices, so costs become even more difficult."
And Brady disputes the fact that NiMo is planning to move from NT, especially in light of recent investments.
"I'm not going to say that we're never going to move out of the facility. I can never say never," he said. "But it's not in our plans. We could have built a new facility, but we decided to reinvest in North Tonawanda . We hoped that would send a signal that we're serious about staying."
Still Changing
Even if they have reinvested, Chimino isn't sure Niagara Mohawk won't pack up soon.
He remembers a day when the lot next to his house was filled with 38 giant transformers. Since power currents have changed, just a few remain and those still in working order are scheduled to be removed. "I hope it doesn't happen," said Chimino, who moved to North Tonawanda from Batavia and now owns two other homes in the neighborhood. "The workmanship in that building is tremendous. Do you see how thick those walls are? They don't build things like that today. "It would be a real shame if it was nothing but a parking lot."Credit: Tonawanda News
"Towpath Tiller" by Dale Rogers
"This ( Robinson Street ) substation is displayed in pictures at the Edison-Ford museum in Fort Myers , FL , celebrating the history of electricity, called "Network at Niagara ."
This very building is noted as the first electric substation between Niagara Falls and Buffalo , dated 1890.
Further information reveals an explosion killed almost two handfuls of people.
Yes, it has had some minor cosmetic changes in the past 110 years, but it's strong simple design and brick detail is testament to craftsmen of the day."
NOTE: Niagara Mohawk plans to tear this building down in the next couple of months in spite of advocacy by many to prevent it.
Credit: Tonawanda News - Saturday, January 17, 2004