SYRACUSE -- The legal battle to preserve the "historic" facades of the former WFBL buildings in downtown Syracuse has ended. The buildings' current owner has obtained permission to bring in the wrecking ball and turn them into parking spaces.
According to the Syracuse Post-Standard, multiple city agencies had argued the art deco facades of the buildings at 431-33 and 435-439 South Warren Street (Google Map) were "historic" back in 2006, making it tougher for owner Tom Quartier to tear the buildings down.
Quartier appealed the decision, even taking it to New York State Supreme Court, arguing the buildings' interiors were already vacant and "badly deteriorated" when he purchased them in 2003. He also argued the sub-par economic conditions of the neighborhood make a restoration project unfeasible. He won the court case in 2007 and the city is now lifting its objections to the plans.
The newspaper says there's still one hurdle in Quartier's way; the city is not allowing him permission to build a driveway into the lot from South Warren Street. Rather, they'd prefer customers access Quartier's lot via an existing city-owned lot along East Onondaga Street.