Demolition of the 1913 H-O Oats grain elevator began this month. (Historic American Engineering Record/Library of Congress)

This month, a wrecking crew began demolishing a 1913 grain elevator complex in Buffalo, N.Y., to make way for the state's fifth casino.

About 50 preservationists, along with anti-gambling protesters, picketed at the site on Dec. 7, when demolition began on the complex's two mill buildings.

"It was quite a scene—10:00 in the morning and 10 degrees," says Tim Tielman, executive director of the Campaign for Greater Buffalo History Architecture and Culture. "A lot of people are very disappointed at what's going on."

The Seneca Gambling Corp., which bought the H-O grain warehouse site this month, plans to build a 100,000-square-foot casino on a nine-acre waterfront parcel.

The H-O Oats Company operated in Buffalo from 1895 until 1983. Four years later, a fire destroyed a brick manufacturing building on the complex. The 130-foot-tall H-O elevator, along with 15 others, are eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Although the mill buildings are gone, the sites' signature grain elevator remains untouched for now.

Hoping to save the grain elevator, the Campaign for Greater Buffalo plans to file a lawsuit against the federal government next week, charging that an environmental-review process should have been required for what is now tribal land. "

We are stil going to court; there's no doubt about that," Tielman says. "It would be a big loss if this turns out to have been demolished just for a parking lot."

The casino is scheduled to open in one year.

Read more about Buffalo's grain elevators on Preservation Online >>

Want Today's News headlines delivered to your e-mail box? Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter >>