Buffalo Central Terminal

In Memorium – Russell E. Pawlak 1950-2009

It’s hard for me to put into words just exactly how I feel about the passing of a man who changed my life so completely, but I will try.

After a trip to New York City and Grand Central Terminal back in 2003, I had remembered some family history involving my parents meeting at a train station where they both worked in the city of Buffalo and I began my quest to learn more about it and its story. I found out that it did, indeed, still exist.I read about its sad history on many internet websites and gasped in horror at its condition at that time. My first visit inside the terminal was in May of 2003 and I was in awe of its overwhelming beauty and saddened by the tragic level of destruction. I couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks. At that moment, I knew that I had to do something, I just didn’t know what that something would turn out to be. When I voiced my desire to friends who were with me at the terminal, they couldn’t understand why I would even venture to get involved with such an impossible project. But, something in my heart told me not to give up. I had to find out more.

I first met Russell at the downtown library in July of 2003, where he was giving a speech on the history and current status of the Central Terminal. As I listened to this animated man talk about this building, his memories and the daunting task of rehabilitating it, I knew that I had finally found a kindred soul. His passion, humor and knowledge about this remarkable building was infectious. Because of this, I went from someone who was unsure he should even get involved, to someone who was convinced that he should, because of Russell’s hope and his passion. He not only made the project seem possible, he made it seem probable. After a brief conversation following his presentation, I added my name and address to his volunteer sign up sheet and have never looked back.

During those early years of being reopened to the public, we were all called crazy for thinking that people would come out to see a dilapidated old train station in a crime ridden area. That only made Russell, and in turn all of us, even more determined to prove to them all that they were wrong. He mounted a tireless campaign in the local media to bring attention to the building and to the project. He inspired us all to come up with creative event ideas to attract people. In 2004, he worked with the Albright Knox Art Gallery to bring Spencer Tunick to Buffalo to do a nude photo installation at the terminal. The 1,850th person to participate, shedding clothes along the way, was Russell!

I will always remember the great fun and comradery of those years. Under Russell’s leadership and since, we have attracted more than 150,000 visitors and have gained credibility as a rehabilitation project. On a personal level, his dedication to the terminal inspired me to get more involved with historic preservation and it has since become not only my passion, but my career. None of this would have been possible without the hope, passion and vision of Russell Pawlak.

Please join us on Wednesday from 1pm to 8pm at the terminal, to pay respect to a man who has done so much, not only for the terminal, but for the entire City of Buffalo. He will be sorely missed.

–
Michael Miller

President
Central Terminal Restoration Corporation

Executive Director
Preservation Buffalo Niagara

The Central Terminal Restoration Corporation is sad to announce that former President, Russell Pawlak, has passed away at age 59 due to a long battle with cancer. The family will receive friends from 1 to 8 p. m. Wednesday at the Central Terminal. His obituary, as printed in the Buffalo News, is as follows:

March 22, 1950—Aug. 8, 2009

Bookshelves surrounded Russell Pawlak this week in his Delaware Avenue apartment, reflecting his eclectic interests in literature, history, poetry, art and architecture. A photograph of Albert Camus peeked out, stacks of CDs overflowed on a table, and in the next room a framed print announced an exhibition on surrealism.

Mr. Pawlak’s life was enriched by knowledge, both the kind acquired through books and from a life lived deeply. That life came to an end Saturday from complications from cancer first diagnosed last fall. He was 59.

“The first thing I think about Russell is he’s the smartest guy I know,” said David Franczyk, a longtime friend and Common Council president. “He was a perfect recipient of knowledge for its own sake. But he wasn’t just a thinker, he was a doer.”

Mr. Pawlak, an avid preservationist who was married three times and had two children, played an instrumental role in resuscitating the Central Terminal train station. He also in recent years served on the Buffalo Preservation Board and the Broadway Market’s board of directors.

“My father had this larger-than-life personality, just a vivacious man whose personality made him seem so much bigger than his 5 feet, 4z inche 1/3 ,” said his daughter, Hadley Horrigan.

Mr. Pawlak worked 28 years as a field service supervisor at the New York State Insurance Fund.

“So many people look to their job to define their identity. He enjoyed his work and was anxious to go back to work, but [his identity] was as a volunteer in this community,” Mrs. Horrigan said.

Added Mr. Franczyk: “He was a bohemian in a sense, but one who had a job.”

Mr. Pawlak was born on Buffalo’s East Side in the St. John Kanty neighborhood, graduating from Bishop Ryan High School, where he played football and ran track. He played football as a running back at Culver- Stockton College in Canton, Mo., graduating with a bachelor’s degree in history.

Mr. Pawlak worked during the 1970s as executive director of the Broadway Fillmore Area Council and in community development at City Hall.

His job with the New York State Insurance Fund took him to New York City for about 10 years beginning in the mid-1980s.

Mrs. Horrigan said her father took great care to “make sure that I knew there was a big, broad world out there” when she visited, immersing her in the arts and politics.

“It was a balance of wanting me to know where we came from, but that there was this bigger place out there, too,” she said.

After returning to Buffalo, Mr. Pawlak, who grew up in the shadow of the Central Terminal and whose grandfather worked for New York Central railroad, set his sights on reviving the dilapidated and badly vandalized station.

Mr. Pawlak served as president for eight years of the Central Terminal Restoration Corp., before stepping down last year. The nonprofit organization raised more than $1 million from mostly government funds to seal and stabilize the East Side landmark, enabling several organizations, including Albright-Knox Art Gallery and Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, to hold events there. Mr. Pawlak also helped popularize what’s become an annual Dyngus Day celebration at the art deco landmark.

“He saved the terminal,” said Franczyk, also active in restoring the building. “When I think of the Central Terminal, I think Russ Pawlak, no doubt about it. For 10 years, he called the shots.”

Mrs. Horrigan said the sheer force of her father’s personality had a lot to do with it.

“More than anything, I believe people became passionate about [saving the Central Terminal] because his passion was so infectious,” Mrs. Horrigan said.

Tom Pleban, who grew up four blocks from Mr. Pawlak, said he appreciated his cousin’s continuing “deep love for the neighborhood. He was always very proud and very willing to do whatever it took to try to regenerate what the East Side could be.”

Mr. Pawlak was married in June to Bernadette Majewski, whom he met at an event at the terminal.

Franczyk said his dear friend will be sorely missed.

“He did more in a short life than most people have done in twice the life span. It’s going to be a loss for the human race, not only Buffalo, because he had the purest joie de vivre of anyone I knew.”

In addition to his wife and daughter, he is survived by a son, Dylan.

The family will receive friends from 1 to 8 p. m. Wednesday in the Central Terminal, 495 Paderewski Drive.

—Mark Sommer

From time to time, we like to share letters sent to us with personal stories about the Terminal. Here’s one from Angus Gray:

Good morning: First and foremost, may I offer my congratulations as well as my admiration for preserving such a wonderful building. It has always bothered me that such beautiful and historic buildings get abandoned, or misused, then demolished to make way for some steel and glass monstrosity, and therefore any restoration and saving of older buildings has always attracted me. As one of your Canadian neighbours who grew up in Toronto, and watched TV from Buffalo for many years, I became familiar with many of the majestic buildings in Buffalo in news stories, weather reports and sportscasts. On my first trip to Buffalo in 1970, my father would point out the many different styles of architecture of the older buildings, many of which were similar to some older buildings in Toronto. My dad would lament at the fact that a number of buildings needed to be restored, both in Toronto and Buffalo (as well as in many other cities in both countries!), and it was this trip to Buffalo that spurred him on to help establish the Toronto Architectural Historical Society, which became responsible for preserving and restoring historical buildings in Toronto, and was later amalgamated into Heritage Toronto. Shortly thereafter, in 1972, my dad was instrumental in saving from the wreckers ball the historic Campbell House, which was moved from its original location in to a permanent place where it now acts as a museum and special function location. Today, historical buildings in Toronto are preserved and in some cases incorporated into newer edifices, with the integrity of the original buildings maintained for the future generations. It takes buckets of money, I know, but it also takes more willpower, and I’m happy to see that your organization has lots of that.

The Buffalo Central Terminal has a special place in my heart, and so it is more rewarding to hear about its restoration and preservation than most other buildings. This is because many years ago, I spent 12 hours waiting in the terminal for a connecting train to Boston, where I was surprising my girlfriend, whom I had met at an exchange in Toronto. I didn’t need to wait 12 hours for the train, but I spent so much time trying to look at every nook and cranny of the old terminal, that I missed a couple of trains! I know I must have irritated the staff at the terminal at the time, asking questions and pleading with janitors and office staff to let me see “just one more place please!”, but it awoke in me a love and admiration of the craftsmanship and commitment to quality work that was so obvious, even though at the time it was in desperate need of a total restoration.

My feelings for the girl in Boston waned, but my feelings for the Buffalo Central Terminal are still very strong.

If you have a story or memory you’d like to share, email it to questions@buffalocentralterminal.org.

A few days ago, we received the note below and we wanted to share it with everyone.

Hello.

Today I experienced what I call a “Joyful Moment”, something that makes you so happy that you want to share it with everyone you encounter throughout the day.

First, let me tell you that I live in Rochester. I moved from Buffalo, where I lived for ten years, back to Rochester where I was born and raised.

While I lived in Buffalo, from 1992 to 2002, I was always amazed at the Central Terminal. I thought it was so sad to see such a magnificent building sitting empty, idle, and neglected. I was so enchanted with the building that I attended several “cleanup” events that took place at the Terminal grounds prior to 2002. My senior aged mom even participated in those cleanups.

Once in a while, I would drive to the Terminal and just sit in my car in the parking lot, gazing at the site with visions of “rebirth” of the Terminal and its surroundings. I even pictured the building becoming a hotel, or apartments, or even a casino. The last time I was at the site was when the clocks were first restored to operation (2001?). Of course, all the rest was still in disrepair with not much hope in sight.

That brings me to today, and my “Joyful Moment”, as I call it. I was home, in Rochester, at the computer, surfing the web, and I came across your website. Living out of town since 2001, I hadn’t heard anything about the Terminal since then. I will just get right to the point and tell you that I was in tears seeing the photos, reading of the restoration efforts, and putting two and two together to see how the Terminal’s restoration might fit right in with our Governor’s plan for high speed rail across Upstate New York.

Again, I cried when I saw the beautiful photos on your website. It was almost like my vision had come true. I can’t wait to visit now and once again park in the parking lot, in my car, and gaze out to see it becoming reality. My hat is off to all those that have made it possible. On a humorous note, I count myself in on that effort since I haven’t forgotten those days when, with broom and shovel in hand, my mom and I pulled weeds, swept pavement, and hoped for the best.

Sincerely,
Ron Nichols
Rochester, New York

Thank you, Ron. It’s thoughts like these that keep us going!