Buffalo’s costly neglect of public buildings

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A draft report shows city owned buildings and parkland require up to $607 million in repairs and updates over the next decade, Jim Heaney and Pamela Cyran of Investigative Post report for WGRZ.

City Hall alone would cost up to $180 million to bring up to snuff, the draft report said. Costly work is required for community centers, libraries, museums and other cultural centers, and park, police and fire facilities.

City officials said they have not released the two-year-old report, obtained from sources by Investigative Post, because they believe the cost estimates are high. They are scheduled to meet Friday with consultants in an effort to revise the figures.

Regardless of the final estimates, the work will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The cost of repairs and upgrades is so big because the city has deferred maintenance for years, allocated relatively little money for capital projects and been slow to spend money that’s been earmarked.

The Buffalo News will publish a print and online version of the story in the Viewpoints section of Sunday’s newspaper. Investigative Post will publish  an online version Monday that includes an interactive map of the location and cost of the most expensive projects.