Graycliff restoration gets needed
funds
By TOM BUCKRAM
Buffalo News Staff Reporter
October 30, 2003
Just when the funding picture was starting to resemble the gloomy fall sky,
the Graycliff Conservancy learned Wednesday that $275,000 is on the way from
Washington to assist restoration of Frank Lloyd Wright's lakeshore landmark.
"This is a tremendous boost. It's going to keep the project going full steam ahead," conservancy President Carol A. Bronnenkant said after Sen. Charles E. Schumer and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton announced final congressional approval of the preservation grant.
The money was made available under the "Save America's Treasures" program, which Clinton championed as first lady, and is part of the Senate's 2004 Interior Appropriations Bill, which soon will be delivered to President Bush for his signature.
Both senators stressed the importance of investing in important historic structures such as Graycliff, the Derby estate Wright designed in 1926 as a summer retreat for Buffalo industrialist Darwin D. Martin and his family.
The federal assistance comes after "a challenging year" in which fund raising by Graycliff and other not-for-profit cultural organizations has been hampered by war, the moribund economy and unfavorable weather throughout much of the tourist season.
Much of the year was devoted to design work for the Foster House, the combination garage and apartment adjoining the main house on the nine-acre property off Old Lake Shore Road. The Foster
House was used by the Martins' daughter and her husband and children before the Great Depression wiped out the family's wealth and the estate was abandoned.
Preliminary work also was undertaken on the roof and chimney, Bronnenkant said.
"We expect actual restoration work on those will begin during the next construction season," she said. "We're also looking to fund a historic landscape report. The landscaping is a little further down the road, but getting a plan in place takes time."
Excluding the federal grant, about $2 million has been
raised toward the restoration's estimated $3.2 million cost. Work is expected
to be completed in about five years.