Safety Building is not safe

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EDITORIAL: Safety Building is not safe

Niagara Gazette - Niagara Falls,NY

http://www.niagara-gazette.com/opinion/local_story_097234939.html?

keyword=topstory

It houses the city's police and court operations. It's the Niagara

Falls Public Safety Building. But right about now, it's not living

up to its name.

As shown in an article by reporter Rick Pfeiffer in Thursday's

Gazette, the building is falling apart. Crumbling concrete, rotting

railings, cracked windows repaired with duct tape and a growing

collection of mold is making the building an uninhabitable mess.

" There is no doubt in my mind that this building is an accident

waiting to happen, " said Chief City Court Clerk Martha Farbo-

Lincoln, who has worked there for 32 years. She told a story of a

juror being hit by a falling ceiling tile. The tile had become

saturated with water and mold.

This, of course, is all happening at a time when progress on a new

courthouse/police complex planned for north Main Street has stalled.

Originally, it was supposed to have been finished sometime this

year. Instead, construction has yet to start.

The condition of the current cops/courts building puts the need for

speed into clear focus. The issue is no longer just one of contracts

and costs. People are putting life and limb at risk by just working

or doing business at the Hyde Park Boulevard building.

These revelations make it clear that two things must happen:

One, city officials and developers must halt their bickering and

petty turf battles over details involving the new courthouse. It's

not just a waste of time and money; it's an issue of creating a safe

environment for people involved in all aspects of the criminal

justice system in the city.

Two, fix the short-term problems. Even if the shovels go into the

dirt tomorrow on Main Street, a new structure would not be ready

until 2009 at the earliest.

Granted, no one wants to put substantial money into a structure that

likely will be abandoned in a few years. But at the same time, no

one deserved to be forced to function in an environment that

threatens their health and safety. Experts need to come up with

creative ways to ensure that safety without breaking the bank at the

same time.

This latest episode highlights Niagara Falls' disturbing practice of

ignoring infrastructure maintenance until it is way too late (just

drive down a city street for another

example).

It's time to put the safety back into the Niagara Falls Public

Safety

Building.