If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence.
I took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited all between the scantlings. I then replaced the boards so cleverly so cunningly, that no human eye — not even his — could have detected anything wrong. There was nothing to wash out — no stain of any kind — no blood-spot whatever. I had been too wary for that.

The ReUse’s main capital is architectural salvage. Strictly speaking this is framing lumber, flooring, windows, doors, bricks, and that sort of stuff. When dealing with old houses, however, it is unavoidable that all kinds of things… I’ll call it unconventional salvage, turn up. Although no gold bars, money stashes, lost artwork (worth saving that is), guns, bodies (rodents excluded) or, as master Poe describes above, beating hearts have turned up under the floorboards many other interesting things do.

Finding this stuff is somewhat of an art form, and experienced crew members know where to look for it. It requires part Indiana Jones, This Old House, and Antiques Road Show. Basements, attics, crawlspaces, cupboards, closets, rafters, coal bunkers, etc… are where this stuff resides. Your inner Dr. Jones is needed to wedge yourself into filthy crawlspaces, past wads of spider webs, mice, centipedes, spiders and other filth and vermin. Your Bob Villa (or whoever is hosting these days) knows how old houses are put together and where people could stash stuff. Finally your Antiques Road Show expert knows that a particular light globe is old glass not just a Chinese knock-off.

So in honor of Halloween tomorrow I thought I’d spin a few yarns about some of the stuff I’ve seen and heard about while working in old houses.

Flying Free Again

Attics always contain cool stuff. Michael and I recently cleared out an attic, and while leaving looked up and saw two poles, neatly wrapped in brown paper, stashed up in the rafters. They are 48-star American flags (1912-1959) made of stitched linen. They were probably made in the 1920’s since the depression and WWII luxuries and materials in short supply, and all flags after WWII were made of nylon. I always wonder who stowed these flags in such a loving manner. We may never know but their flags now proudly fly in the ReSource and are a perfect symbol for rebuilding urban America.

The Curmudgeon Bench

An East Side garage yielded a monstrously heavy pattern-maker’s bench and vise. The bench is made of hardwoods and bears the scars from of years of hard work – deep oil stains and tool marks. A favorite conversation of Kevin’s and mine is about old curmudgeons that seem haunt workshops, garages, and places like that, and this bench just screams “old curmudgeon” and I believe the builder would begrudgingly approve of its reuse at 100 years old (Note it’s not for sale because we use it).

Toyland, Toyland, little Girl and Boy-land…

Its always poignant to find toys in houses. It is a reminder that even the most dilapidated houses once housed families. I’m not a Polyanna but I always hope that the toys we from happy children with caring families that gave these toys to the children as presents on Christmas mornings, or any special event. We mostly modern plastic toys but one house north of the city yielded the tubular steel chassis of chain-drive peddle car. It looks like it once sported a streamlined body, something like a 49 Mercury. I imagine a young child played with it for years and then in the teens decided to remove the body with plans to convert it to a hot rod go-cart. Like many things, however, the chassis sat in the basement, the boy moved out, eventually mom and dad passed away and the there it sat until the house was scheduled for demolition.

What’s Your Sign Baby?

Another ubiquitous feature of old houses is the adult entertainment…oh heck…porn stashes under the stairs or in a back closet. There’s usually no vintage Betty Page pinups but mostly assortments of cheesy 1970’s items and media. Because of the commonness of these prurient collections I do not believe they are the product of any Ted Bundy types, but rather the personal library of an Archie Bunker-type guy who kept this little bit of forbidden fruit for himself and the fellas on poker night. What Archie didn’t know is that Edith pretended not to know about it and Junior shared it with every other guy and their younger brothers on the block. Amazingly, Junior (who couldn’t chew gum and walk) always rearranged it in such perfect order so that only Pops believed it was a secret.

You Wanna Go Where Everybody Knows Your Name…

Buffalo is said to have a church, bowling alley, and tavern on every corner. The amount of brewski memorabilia and paraphernalia certainly corroborates that saying. Printed beer crates and beer memorabilia are particularly common finds. We recently found an Iroquois Brewing Co.-branded pop-top opener that exactly matched the Iroquois Brewing Co. bottle boxes found a few months earlier in an attic. Must have been a popular brand. Teenage hangouts in attics and basements are postered with Labatts and Coors signs – in between Farah Fawcett and Bo Derrick posters. Actual bars are also a popular find along with church pews and church parts!. I particularly like the souvenir mugs from Bishop Timon High School’s 1987 junior prom (same year as my junior prom). “Don’t Dream it’s Over” by Crowded House was their theme song. However the wisdom of beer mugs for a high school prom escapes me.

Heavy Boots of Lead, Fills His Victims full of Dread…

This story is really heavy, although there are no clever anecdotes I can find to open it. Simply, a former medical office yielded an X-ray machine and several tons of lead. Having worked with radiation I am not surprised, but the crews were when they discovered that the walls and door were lined with ¼ inch lead sheeting. Pretty heavy Eh?

We’ve Got Trouble Right Here in River City

Mason jars, glass containers, and old bottles, especially patent medicine bottles are always an interesting find. I always wonder how they end up under houses (perhaps next to the beating heart!), under stairs, in crawls spaces, etc… Under a house in South Buffalo a bottle of tonic “For everything that ails you” was recovered. Brewed up in Rochester New York this marvelous “tonic” contained 75% alcohol and some herbs (I believe this is called a Harvey Wallbanger nowadays), and if it at least didn’t cure you it must have made you forget about whatever ailed you.

Everything Old is New Again, and Again

While deconstructing a house in South Buffalo we discovered that ReUsing is not an entirely new idea. As we lifted the beams from this mid-1800’s house we noticed they were particularly heavy and not made of hemlock – the usual structural wood in Buffalo housing – and had notches and bolt holes indicating a previous life as perhaps a railroad bridge. Closer inspection and discussions with a customer revealed that these beams probably came a factory since the notches appeared to be mounting points for pulleys for leather belt driven machinery. Kevin and I imagined another old curmudgeon grumbling about lumber prices and dragging these monsters (grumbling as he went) from the former factory site. I know we certainly grumbled loading them on the trailer.

Return to sender, address unknown…

As you pull apart old houses you find all sorts of postcards, stamps, pictures and documents in boxes, under baseboards, etc… Recently I found a segment of a postcard with a two cent stamp (1920s) used to shim up a door hinge. These documents are always interesting because they remind us that old buildings once houses people. Some lives were exciting and exotic as we find postcards, letters, and brochures from all over the world. Others were very normal as is attested by school notebooks, ticket stubs, and shopping lists. One interesting find I remember is a piece of drywall from an East Side house. On the back, obviously done when a repair was made, three children left a note for the future. It said that is was January 1972, Gerald Ford was president and it was cloudy and 23 degrees outside. Message received.

Well there’s a few stories for today. As I go out I’ll leave you with the end of the Tell Tale Heart. Happy Halloween and see you at the ReSource.

Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God! — no, no? They heard! — they suspected! — they KNEW! — they were making a mockery of my horror! — this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! — and now — again — hark! louder! louder! louder! LOUDER! — “Villains!” I shrieked, “dissemble no more! I admit the deed! — tear up the planks! — here, here! — it is the beating of his hideous heart!”

A few weeks ago we participated in a forum about developing a city-wide compost system.  We spoke about a facility which people could bring organic waste and we talked specifically about reducing food waste in our landfill.  This led to a question I’ve had about the clear bags for lawn waste.  Buffalo residents may not realize that Erie county does not currently have a compost facility to manage the lawn waste you’ve been putting into those clear bags.  It’s true.  I spoke with Mr. Goldstein about our guerilla tactics of snatching your lawn clippings and he said, “Keep doing it.”  They are very close to learning whether or not their grant for developing a compost facility will be awarded.  Unfortunately, in the meantime, your yard waste is going to the landfill with your regular garbage.  You can keep leaves on your lawn as a natural mulch to protect your lawn or you can compost them or you can bring them to OUR compost pile!

Board Member, Michele Johnson recently told us about a pooch she adopted and who naturally found herself as a mascot for Buffalo ReUse.  Latte is a very sweet tempered pooch.  From Michele, “After several months of looking for the perfect new member of our household from visits to shelters to pouring through classified ads..A friend  gave me some information on a group in Genesee county that rescues animals from kill shelters all over the USA…And one of the volunteers sent me a picture of ‘Latte’ she is a  chihuahua/yorkshire terrier mix who came from a shelter in Kentucky and was mauled by a larger breed dog taking off part of her ear…We fell in love looking at her pic and decided to adopt her.”   We hope to see you this Friday for Halloween, any costumed canines that bring their owners will receive a free doggie treat–no tricks–just treats!

Youngstown, Ohio has a lot of parallels to Buffalo.  It is also a former steel town whose once booming and densely populated city spread out and has seen residents move outside of the city.   The image and reputation of Youngstown declined since the 70s due to blight and crime.  There seemed to be no plan for growth or survival for the city.  A lack of industry and job opportunities and subsequent struggles fostered a cycle of defeatism and hopelessness.  When children and teenagers absorb the negative morale about living in Youngstown–or Buffalo–it affects them.  If you grow up hearing your city “sucks” you will inevitably internalize some that as part of your identity.  If you don’t believe me, ask yourself why you ask people, “Where are you from?” or “Where did you grow up?” when you meet people and establish relationships. People make judgements about  you based on their, sometimes limited, knowledge of your hometown.  You see their facial expressions change with recognition or disconnection.  I have corrected half a dozen friends and family, “Nope, the Statue of Liberty is on the other side of NY.”  Most people outside of Buffalo have no understanding of Buffalo, except its bleak reputation which includes–snow, poverty, no jobs, 50% dropout rate.

What is it like to be a mayor of such a town–a town that is vulnerable to criticism and wary of people coming in and making undeliverable promises.  We invited Jay Williams, the first African-American mayor (and the youngest) of Youngstown, OH to come and participate in our Great Lakes Building ReUse Conference and share his controversial ideas about right-sizing and regionalism.  How does a mayor “shrink” a city, yet still provide services and opportunities for growth?  Mayor Williams’ program, Youngstown 2010, is a strategy to create collaboration with policy makers from suburbs, towns, villages and the urban core.  The plan also involves targeted demolition and redevelopment in key neighborhoods.   Part of the program offers grants to relocate residents in sparsely populated neighborhoods, which would allow the city to divert the cost for street lighting and trash pickups elsewhere.  Naturally, some lifelong residents don’t want to leave their houses.  What if their houses could be moved to more populated neighborhoods?  Can some combination of this work in Buffalo?

We invited our own Mayor Brown as well.  If the two mayors don’t already know one another, we hope they will talk and exchange ideas with each other and all the conference participants.
It should be a very interesting workshop.  If you would like to register for the conference, please know there are a variety of options and the final deadline is soon.

pdf you can print

Buffalo ReUse Inc and Grant Street Gallery proudly present the 2008 ReFind Arts Exhibition, Accessing the Imagination.
18 local artists have transformed over 20 doors into art and/or–something else!  tables, benches, waxed, even shredded into piles!

Come meet the artists and celebrate our 2nd Anniversary with us.
Funky groove masters, FudgyChewy, will perform and everyone is welcome to this free event!

220 Grant St near the corner of Lafayette
Thursday, October 23rd 6:30-10pm

We would also like to add a heartfelt thanks to Ben and Block Club Magazine for making a donation to the ReFind Arts Exhibition; we’re so grateful you thought of us!

There is something of a misconception about deconstruction.  The myth is that it is always performed by hand and that men have to climb onto roofs or meticulously pick away each 2×4 and sheet of drywall.  That is a traditional method and it is time-consuming, which translates to expensive.  So, the misconception is that deconstruction becomes a waste of time for municipalities with limited resources.  However, not all deconstruction is performed with just the hands.  Hybrid Deconstruction, the practice that Buffalo ReUse is developing, under the consultation of David Bennink, is different.  The method was originated by David Bennink over 14 years ago and it involves “man with machine.”  It means, men and women using tools and forklifts to dismantle structures safely and efficiently.  If you’ve seen a demolition vs. a deconstruction, the difference you’ll notice is that demos crunch up houses and throw everything into a dumpster, then haul the rubble off to local landfills.  However, deconstruction cuts the houses into panels and reclaims the useable lumber and other materials–like sinks, tubs, staircases, flooring, windows and water heaters which still have a purpose for a thrifty property owner.  There is still rubble that heads to a landfill, but after we’ve separated mulchable lumber and concrete for the recyclers and sent the rest of the useable stuff to our store, we’ve made a significant waste diversion!
The hybrid deconstruction method does not pick apart drywall or shingles or tile floors or other materials which cannot be reclaimed quickly (some of those materials cannot currently be recycled in our market).  Instead, hybrid deconstruction chooses the structures and building materials which can yield the most reclaimable, recyclable, reusable materials or most value, quickly.  If we can deconstruct more houses with the hybrid method, it means we can divert more materials from the landfill because we get through more houses that would have been simply demolished and buried.
If you’re attending the Great Lakes Building ReUse Conference, you’ll have the opportunity to work with David Bennink and talk with other BMRA members.  Bennink is offering a full day of training which will help you implement these practices in your hometowns.

You’ll get to meet other people involved in the ReUse and the Deconstruction movement.  Dr. Robert Falk, coauthor of UNBUILDING: Salvaging The Architectural Treasures of Unwanted Houses will be available.  Here is a review of UNBUILDING, “Much of America’s architectural heritage is ending up in landfills. Bob Falk and Brad Guy want to change that. The book is a guide to “unbuilding,” or deconstruction, the process of dismantling buildings that otherwise would be razed. The purpose is to save reusable elements such as building materials, fixtures and architectural details. Falk and Guy say deconstruction preserves the past, reduces costs, benefits the environment and has the potential to create jobs in urban areas, where they’re needed most. Unbuilding covers the many aspects of deconstruction, including site preparation, safety issues, tools, techniques and resale ideas. Interviews with successful salvagers are included, along with resources for those interested in deconstruction. –Akron Beacon Journal”

You can register to attend just one day and you can still get a discounted rate if you pay your registration before October 23rd.

We have a list of volunteer needs you might like to assist with:

Wednesday Night
We will be installing the artwork at Grant Street Gallery (220 Grant), but it should be pretty easy, we’ll need most of the help doing food prep.
If you’re available to cut up and arrange veggies, fruits and breads Wed evening, please email Alison.  She lives near Grant and Auburn.
alison.altschuller {at} gmail(.)com
I will let her tell you the exact location of her kitchen so as to avoid 200 people moon bathing in the nude on her lawn.
You don’t have to worry about bringing veggies (unless you want to) but do bring some additional cutting boards, knives and platters or bowls.
If you’d like to prepare a family spread or dip recipe for the Reception on Thursday we’d love that too–a nice little artichoke or spinach dip or a roasted red pepper hummus, or caramelized sweet onion or even LIVERWURST!
(just give me a headsup so I don’t make my gramma’s recipe of “finely chopped refrigerator leftovers + mayo”

Thursday Night
Greeters and Bartenders and late night cleaner uppers
The reception is from 6:30-10pm.  If you’re available for general muscle power, please let me know

Friday to Saturday Evenings
The gallery will be open to the public from 5-9pm each evening as long as we have volunteers willing to babysit.
You don’t have to do anything except be gracious and let people look at the work at their leisure.
But if you know a painter or illustrator who would set up an easel and work while the public visits (especially Saturday the 25th) that would be a very special opportunity.

Crank Callers #1
We have to spend a few hours this week calling National Grid and speaking with an operator to have the 230 tree holes marked for digging.
It’s very easy–just time consuming.  Unfortunately, it has to happen during the workday; please let me know if you’re available for this.

Crank Callers #2
We have a script for people to use to telephone local contractors.  We want to inform them of our pickup services because we frequently hear from homeowners, “Oh I wish I’d known, we just renovated our kitchen and threw out all the old stuff!”  If contractors, who include removal of the “old stuff” as part of their fee, knew that we could take that material and give the home owner (or contractor) a tax break, we would divert more material from the landfill.
So, if you’d like to help us initiate those kinds of targeted phone calls, please let me know.  This can happen on a Saturday as well. volunteer {at} buffaloreuse(.)org

Crank Callers #3
Rebekah, our conference organizer, will need some help following up with about 200 people who have expressed interest in our Great Lakes Building ReUse Conference www.greatlakesreuse.org
She has a script you can follow.  If you have time this week, please let her know.  It’s really important to us.  There will be more conference needs soon as we get ready to mail out materials and prepare welcome packets.  If you’d like to shuttle guest speakers in from the airport or assist with the conference in other ways, please let Rebekah know.  2008conference {at} greatlakesreuse(.)org

 Meditations on Summer

New Paintings by Cynnie Gaasch at Studio Hart

Opening Reception October 17, 6-8 pm

Buffalo, NY — Studio Hart is very pleased to welcome back Buffalo artist Cynnie Gaasch for an exhibition of her new work titled Meditations on Summer.

The exhibit will run from Tuesday, October 14 through Saturday, November 22, 2008. An opening reception for the artist will take place Friday, October 17, from 6-8 pm.

Meditations on Summer marks a return to oil painting for artist Cynnie Gaasch.  Painting on vellum, the physical nature of the paint is ever present as it seemingly floats on the gallery wall. These are concise works –  moments gathered in the form of snapshots by the artist throughout the summer of 2008 in Buffalo, NY.  In the studio, the color in the snapshots provides a tool for meditative reflection on moments that are primarily simple moments of beauty. These points of beauty range from views in her own garden to observations of industrial wastelands.

Cynnie Gaasch has exhibited throughout the northeast, and earned degrees in fine arts at Hampshire College and American University.  Gaasch is also an art administrator, art critic, and curator.  She will earn Business First’s 40 Under Forty this fall for her contributions in the arts, service to nonprofits, and work on Buffalo’s west side.

Studio Hart is located in Buffalo’s historic Allentown District at 65 Allen Street (adjoining Cafe 59, between Delaware Avenue and Franklin Street). Gallery hours are 10:30 am to 2 pm, Tuesday through Saturday and by appointment.

Please join us in celebrating Cynnie Gaasch’s newest body of work.

Phone: 716-536-8337

Email: studiohart {at} gmail(.)com

Web: www.studiohart.com  

If you want the opportunity to transform a vacant lot or house into something FABULOUS or you want to horde property (I won’t judge you). Here is the link to register yourself. You need 2 forms of photo ID. If you would like to buy some property for Buffalo ReUse to transform into something FABULOUS–please call us because, well, we’d love the opportunity. 716-885-4131
I am backlogged on my blog entries, I owe you all an update from the NACA workshop I attended, but in the meantime if you or someone you know is struggling with their mortgage–NACA also has a HOME SAVE PROGRAM to assist you with keeping or saving your home. You have to register and you can call them at 1-888-302-NACA.

From our friends at the Massachusetts Avenue Project:

Please join the Massachusetts Avenue Project for a dedication celebrating the Growing Green Urban Farm and the Organic Gardening WaterWorks Program.

Their new water tank is supported by Buffalo ReUse reused timber, an “urban harvest”.

October 22, 2008, 3 to 5 pm, at the Growing Green Youth Farm, 389 Massachusetts Avenue, Buffalo, New York.

Refreshments will be provided. RSVP to Jesse Meeder at 716-882-5327 x3 or via email.