I didn't write the article below but wanted it seen.

1. It mentions my fortress of solitude

2. The theater mentioned was torn down the year before I was kidnapped. That was the field where we were picked up.

3. I saw Bambi there.

MY VIEW

A bit of history is lost when landmarks fall

Updated: 03/05/08 6:35 AM

My earliest recollections involved countless visits to the show with my mother and one or two of her sisters — either the gum-snapping Aunt Stella or Aunt Mary, who baby sat my brother and me. It was exciting to pass through the mirrored French doors into the mysterious dark world of the theater, with its distinctive smell of freshly popped corn.

At certain times of the year it was even more remarkable. You might leave a heavy Buffalo snowfall with brisk winds and icy sidewalks to enter a tropical jungle adventure featuring Tarzan. Or in the summer, you might leave a sizzling sunny afternoon and step into the refreshing dark air conditioned world of the theater.

The Rivoli was there as far back as I can remember. In fact, my mother told me of how she would go there when she was a young girl to watch vaudeville acts on the stage. Once she had the courage to get up on the stage and sing a song in order to win a china place setting for her mother.

All of these memories — and now the Rivoli was being torn down. What a sad event.

The feelings I felt that day were not unique. I’m sure there were those who felt similar pangs when the beautiful Roosevelt Theater on Broadway and the Lafayette Theater downtown were torn down to create parking lots. And when the famous “one stop wonder,” Sattler’s department store, was eliminated. Over the years many “landmarks” all over Buffalo have been torn down. I’m sure there are justifications for each of these initiatives, but one can’t help but wonder how it is that buildings such as these seem to be cherished and preserved in Europe, while in our country the usual procedure is to tear down the old.

Several cities I’ve visited in Europe have a McDonald’s restaurant or KFC outlet built into old structures, thus preserving the flavor of the area. It is not only the historical value that is lost when a building is demolished. The environmental impact of disposing of the discarded building materials also needs to be considered.

The solution to the problem is certainly not simple, but examples are available of successful reclamation efforts. Baltimore’s recovery of its inner harbor area is one example of proactive efforts that have been phenomenally successful at not only preserving a historical area but also turning it into a viable resource.

Likewise, Cleveland has turned an abandoned railroad terminal into an office building and shopping mall. In Cincinnati, a large railroad terminal has been converted into a popular museum.

Buffalo has many assets in terms of its lakefront location and rich history. Indeed, some of the more recent redevelopment efforts in the downtown area seem to be sensitive to preservation considerations. I can only hope that this sensitivity becomes ingrained as redevelopment continues.

Hats off to the Central Terminal Preservation Corp., which as been doing a yeoman job at recovering and preserving one of the most revered landmarks in Buffalo’s East Side — the old New York Central Terminal.

Kidnapping

This was August of 1985.

After a baseball game in a field (I didn’t play) a bunch of us decided to have a refreshment. I believe it involved several cans of beer each. Or more then several.

Four of us decided to go to Burger King on Broadway about 5 blocks away. On the way there Weasel (that was his nick name) decided that he needed to stop near some bushes for a moment. We got to the end of the block where an old theater was just demolish and was now a dirt field when a cop car jumps the curb and pulls in front of us. Weasel was at the back of the pack and runs for it. One cop throws a rock at him, the other one throws us in the back seat. I had a nice boom box with me at the time. Remember this was the 80’s.

So there are 3 of us in the back and 2 pissed off cops in the front. They are pissed because one got away. We get driven around the neighborhood for a few minutes while they badger us for an address. I didn’t know it; I’d only been there once before. Dipwad gives up the address. We drive a little more. The police stop in front of a house where a woman is standing. He asks if we are the kids that broke her window. She turns looks at the intact picture window and says no my window isn’t broken. She looks at me and says he was just here and didn’t do anything. See; the year before I worked for the mayor’s summer youth program watching kids at the Polish Community Center across from the Burger King. So she knew me as someone that she (for some reason) trusted with her 2 girls. The fact that the cops lied to her about her own window kinda helped us.

But the truth never stopped the police before. So off we went. We go to Weasel’s place. The cops tell his parents that he’s being arrested. They go to the station. We go to an area that 4 white teens should not go in the summer on a weekend at 10pm. We each go let out at different places so we were alone. Two of us were let go in a different precinct. So, I and my radio run to an alley to figure out where I am. I get turned around. Once I get going to right direction I end up having a guy get in my face over the radio. I try to hit him with the radio and get jumped by his buddy from the side. They grab the radio and run. I sprain my ankle cause stupid me thought chasing them while drunk would be a good idea. I find my way to McDonalds, get a happy meal and relaxed for a while. After that it was a 2 mile walk home. That sucks with a sprained ankle. I get home around 11:30 and go straight to sleep. Remember, I was 15 and my mother was not home from the bar yet. Next morning I tell her and she and I report the problem but nothing was done and she didn’t talk to the other parents. Dipwad’s father was a bartender at the bar next to the station so he got dropped off 2 blocks from home. The next person about a mile away; then me about 2 miles away. Weasel was dumped the furthest. No report was ever filed by the police; that had this thing where they would randomly pick people up and just dump them somewhere. It was their way to tech people who was boss. None of the parents wanted to fight so everything was left alone.