What's News?
November 19, 2011 - Wow, what a great private tour of the Richardson-Olmsted Complex. Thank you to Monica Pellegrino-Faix and the Richardson Center Corp. for an exciting look at the restoration progress at this National Historic Landmark. It is an endlessly fascinating place, architecturally, historically and culturally. We are so impressed by the historic renovations going on at this Henry Hobson Richardson masterpiece of architecture! Can't wait to see the landscape work next year to restore Frederick Law Olmsted's landscape design. And thank you for the insights and answers -- you helped us understand these 'white elephant' projects so much better and you gave us lots of ideas. Thank you! Anyone who wants to learn more and help support their efforts, please go to http://www.richardson-olmsted.com (thumbnail photo copyright Derek Neuland)
November 7, 2011 - The Richardson Center Corp. has graciously scheduled a private tour of the completed portions of the Richardson Olmsted Complex for Friends of J.N. Adam, with Q&A and a "lessons learned" discussion afterwards. Saturday, November 19, 2011, 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The tour size is limited, but we do have a few spots open. Send us an email if you'd like to join the tour and become a member of Friends of J.N. Adam. friendsofjnadam(at)yahoo(dot)com $15 payable to Richardson Center Corp. By reservation only. For more info. on the former Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane designed by H.H. Richardson, go to: http://www.richardson-olmsted.com
(Photo copyright www.visitbuffaloniagara.com)
November 1, 2011 - The next filming day for our "This Place Matters" documentary is Sunday, November 20, 2011. We'll be in and around Perrysburg and Buffalo interviewing people on film who have a story to tell about the history of this place or who just want to talk about why it should be saved. Drop us a line if you want to join in -- we won't take up your whole 15 minutes of fame if you were saving that for something else!
October 29, 2011 - Friends of J.N. Adam just nominated this beautiful campus for the 2012 "Seven to Save" program of the Preservation League of New York State. We hope this campus gets the attention it deserves through selection in the Seven to Save program!
http://www.preservenys.org/seven-2010/01_what_protect_7_2010.html
October 27, 2011 - Overheard at last week's preservation conference in Buffalo -- architectural historians raving that the Delaware Avenue Baptist Church is definitely the most beautiful building in Buffalo. Hey, guess what, the J.N. Adam campus was designed by the same architect - John Hopper Coxhead! http://www.buffaloah.com/a/del/965/tc.html
(Photo copyright Delaware Avenue Baptist Church www.dabc.org)
October 26, 2011 - Toured the Lafayette Hotel today, which is under an intense restoration process with a May 2012 reopening goal. This 1904 French Renaissance Revival style hotel was neglected for over 40 years with extensive decay and water damage, according to developer Rocco Termini, so Friends of J.N. Adam take heart - the unrenovated portions of the Lafayette reveal a structure in worse shape. What a challen...ge, but what a thrill to see the finished rooms - they are SPECTACULAR! Even the potential in the rooms underway is obvious. And we saw artisans at work - murals being restored, plaster being recast, and marble, mahogany, oak, mosaics, and design details all being meticulously and professionally brought back to life. There is great interest in this long shuttered property - there must have been 200+ people on the tour. Rocco Termini, Signature Development, R&P Oak Hill contractors, and everyone involved in this project, which like the Statler restoration is part a labor of love, well, they all deserve our thanks, appreciation, support, and praise. (Photo copyright buffalorising.com)
http://www.buffalorising.com/2010/09/the-hotel-lafayette-part-one.html#SlideFrame_1
http://www.buffaloah.com/a/washngtn/391/index.html
October 19, 2011 - Toured the Statler Towers today with about 150 plus enthusiastic preservation buffs. What an amazing restoration the workers, artisans and Mark Croce and company have going on there! It's inspirational. The finished and in-progress rooms we saw are so much better than the Statler most of us can remember - a real restoration back to its former glory. Everyone is going to want to go there when it reopens! Bravo to Croce and company for taking risks and embracing this restoration project. Check out photos on this website. The tour was part of the "Imagine - Why Preservation Matters" series put on by the Center for the Study of Art, Architecture, History, and Nature. (Photo copyright Andy Olenick)
October, 2011 - CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS! We need many helping hands to take the steps necessary to get New York State to stabilize these historic structures and to reach the goals of advancing and implementing a viable Reuse Plan that can be used to get this campus out of State ownership (fenced off and forgotten) and back into public use. Please get in touch with us offline at friendsofjnadam(at)yahoo(dot)com if ...you can help. Volunteers are neededfor a membership drive, fundraising and mailing projects, and we could use help from people with writing and graphic art skills, and computer, web and social networking skills. Our wish list for donated services is: copying and printing services. Please let us know if you can help with this worthwhile effort! We thank you!
October 6, 2011 - Friends of J.N. Adam welcome back Michael Kuzma, our former President, reinstalled as President at tonight's meeting! We're all excited about working together to create solutions for this project.
September 18, 2011 - Next documentary filming date!
Join us "on stage" . . . The next filming date for our "This Place Matters" documentary about the J.N. Adam campus is Sunday 9-18-11. If you have a story or remembrance from any sort of connection with this place, we'd love to interview you as part of the project. With the facility currently "fenced off" and "off limits" to the public, a great way to spread the word is to bring the feel and history of the place to the public. Professional documentarian Nancy Roberts is doing a great job with this effort. Get in touch with us at friendsofjnadam(at)yahoo(dot)com! (Photo courtesy and copyright Xander Fisher, taken 6-17-11 in the theater auditorium at J.N. Adam.)
September 12, 2011 - From the Jamestown Post-Journal: PERRYSBURG - Robert M. Mooney, 21, of Fredonia was charged with third-degree criminal trespass Saturday at 7:50 p.m. on Route 62 in Collins after an incident that allegedly occurred on Sept. 2 at 12:40 a.m. According to police, officers were checking the abandoned JN Adam grounds on Airview Drive in Perrysburg and found a car parked near the old pump house on the grounds with no one around. The grounds were searched but no one was found. The car was towed from the scene and impounded. Troopers investigated with family members and determined the owner was in no danger, and he was charged later. He was issued an appearance ticket to Perrysburg Town Court later. http://post-journal.com/page/content.detail/id/590754/Area-Police-Reports.html?nav=5069
August 31, 2011 - J.N. Adam Copper Thief Sentenced to Jail Time and Probation
February 9, 2011 - Friends of J.N. Adam has a new facebook page - find us under "Friends of J.N. Adam". The old page had technical issues, so we're making another go at this facebook thing, trying to preserve an old school social network with this new school social network. Please join us under "Friends of J.N. Adam" and help us fight this good fight. We'll need all 900+ of our facebook friends!
January 29, 2011 - the first day of filming for our "This Place Matters" video documentary. We're putting it together to promote this place during the National Trust for Historic Preservation's annual conference in Buffalo this October 2011. Producer Nancy Roberts and audio man Tom are so professional, and the people interviewed told some rich stories that we could not make up if we tried. Olive Gernatt Stang, Werner Stang, Janet Sheehan Peters, and Nancy Mingus were interviewed on film today, and, oh, their contributions will make this film outstanding. Contact us if you have a past connection to the facility - TB years or developmental disability years - and would like to be a part of the documentary. Let's get the word out about why This Place Matters!
January 21, 2011 - Friends of J.N. Adam nominates the facility to be named one of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's "11 Most Endangered Historic Properties" for 2011.
Click here for more info. on the program:
http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/11-most-endangered.
Letter from Nancy Mingus in support of nomination. Nancy Mingus is an architect, author, architectural historian, preservationist, and John Hopper Coxhead authority.
Letter from David Franczyk in support of nomination. David Franczyk is the President of the Buffalo Common Council. The City of Buffalo holds a reversionary right of ownership in this property.
January 18, 2011 - Friends of J.N. Adam participate in the next conference by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in preparation for submitting a proposal to highlight this project at the October 2011 annual NTHP conference in Buffalo. Summaries of conference proposals were presented and critiqued by NTHP staff to help applicants develop their written application.
January 8, 2011 - Our 2011 slate of Board Members, Officers and Committees and new snail mail address are on our Contact page. Our new By-Laws are now on-line here.
December 14, 2010 - Friends of J.N. Adam reach 900 Friends on facebook! Contact us via facebook
December, 2010 - Friends of J.N. Adam have teamed up with professional video producer Nancy Roberts who has volunteered her talents to make a documentary about the J.N. Adam facility and the people who have been part of its history. If you have a story to tell about living there, working there or being touched by it through a family member or friend and you are willing to be interviewed on film, please contact us. We'll hold these sessions on weekends in January, February and March 2011. The documentary will be used to promote the facility, especially during the October 2011 National Trust for Historic Preservation's annual conference in Buffalo. Photos, documents and artifacts can also add a lot to the project, so we'd love to see those. Thank you!
December 8, 2010 - Friends of J.N. Adam participate in a webinar put on by the National Trust for Historic Preservation on how to put together a proposal for NTHP's national conference in Buffalo in October 2011. We plan to submit a proposal and hope to shed light on the plight of this endangered historic facility during the conference.
http://www.preservationbuffaloniagara.org/page/2011-national-preservation-conference/
December 4, 2010 - Friends of J.N. Adam attend orientation for the 2011 National Trust for Historic Preservation's annual conference in Buffalo in October 2011. We're gearing up to submit a proposal to have the facility considered as one of the endangered properties focused on during the conference. Check out Preservation Buffalo Niagara's conference web page: http://www.preservationbuffaloniagara.org/page/2011-national-preservation-conference/
November 30, 2010 - Two men arrested at J.N. Adam facility and charged with burglary.
November, 2010 - The J.N. Adam center is featured in Buffalo Spree magazine's Architecture 2010/December issue! Check out the beautiful photos by Char Szabo-Perricelli and article by Editor Elizabeth Licata: "J.N. Adam Memorial Hospital - WNY's Forgotten Temple of Health in the Hinterlands".
July 1, 2010 - Best Reuse Ideas Contest Winners Announced!
June 27, 2010 - Radio program airs about the J.N. Adam facility.
June 2, 2010 - Promoting the site for Tri-County Hospital relocation.
May 24, 2010 - Best Reuse Ideas Contest
March 18, 2010 - Letter to NYS from Assemblymember Joseph Giglio addressing neglect of campus and requesting access.
March 12, 2010 - Friends of J.N. Adam, Buffalo Common Council President David Franczyk, NYS Assemblymember Joseph Giglio, Town of Perrysburg Supervisor and Town Council, Mayor of Perrysburg, Mayor of Gowanda, and Preservation Buffalo Niagara representative hold a successful meeting to discuss win-win reuse ideas and formulate a plan of action.
March 4, 2010 - Erie County Supreme Court Judge Gerald Whalen dismisses Trathen Logging's 2005 lawsuit against the State of New York, City of Buffalo and Town of Perrysburg, with no damages awarded to Trathen.
March 2010 - Join us on facebook
March 2010 - Preservation Buffalo Niagara assisting Friends of J.N. Adam with this historic preservation project and adds the J.N. Adam campus to its list of most threatened historic buildings in Western New York.
Buffalo Common Council President David Franczyk's letter to NYS for site access within 10 days to assess damage by neglect, February 19, 2010
Buffalo News:
Lawsuit threatened over J. N. Adam site, January 11, 2010
Friends of J.N. Adam letter to NYS to address damage by neglect, November 18, 2009
Buffalo to Host the 2011 National Preservation Conference
Sale of J.N. Adam Center Voided
The stately hospital on the hill in Perrysburg, New York, has been given another chance. In a unanimous decision, the Fourth Department of the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court has sided with opponents of the proposed sale of the former J.N. Adam Tuberculosis Hospital campus by the state to Trathen Land Company and voided the sale.
In the lawsuit, brought by the Friends of J.N. Adam in order to preserve the historic buildings and 649-acre forested campus of the J.N. Adam Developmental Center, the Court upheld the group's claims against New York State and the City of Buffalo for violations of the state's environmental, historic preservation and public buildings laws. The Court found that the state and city failed to perform required environmental studies and historic preservation reviews.
The Court also voided the Buffalo Common Council's 2005 resolution giving up the City's reversionary rights to the property, and voided the state's declaration of "no environmental impacts" to the property in the sale to the logging company. The state sought to sell the 649-acre campus to the logging company for approximately $390,000, with the City to receive just under $334,000 of the sale proceeds.
The former hospital campus, designed by renowned American architect John Hopper Coxhead, includes a complex of more than two dozen buildings, a stained-glass domed dining hall rotunda, a dozen former physician residences, and hundreds of acres of mature forests, meadows and ponds. Friends of J.N. Adam is working toward a reuse of the property which is both beneficial to the community and protects the property's historic and natural resources.
Full ruling on nycourts.gov
Buffalo News article
John Hopper Coxhead Designed Campus at Virginia Union University Receives Getty Foundation Campus Heritage Grant, 2007
http://www.campusheritage.org/page/virginia-union-university
Group Sues to Stop Sale of Forest Area, September 2005
By Brian Meyer
8/11/2005 - City gives up rights to former J.N. Adam center
8/8/2005 - David A. Franczyk's letter to the Buffalo Common Council
July 8, 2005 - Last Gasp for Hospital?
New York State Is Selling Its Defunct Hospitals, but One City Objects to a Sale
By Elizabeth Benjamin
(Preservation Online - the Online Magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation)