Share This Page On Social Media

Comments? Corrections? Send us a message about this building

Nominate A Building

St. Matthew's Roman Catholic Church

  At Risk      High Risk  


http://www.preservationready.org/Buildings/1066EastFerryStreet?action=download&upname=1066EastFerry.jpg
http://www.preservationready.org/Buildings/1066EastFerryStreet?action=download&upname=1066EastFerryStreet.jpg
April 2007
Photo credit: David Torke fixBuffalo

1066 East Ferry Street, Buffalo NY 14211

Owner

  • The Way Christian Community

Physical Description

  • Romanesque style church (170'x80') built with Ohio sandstone

Current Condition

  • Abandoned

History

  • 1908 - Rev. George Sellinger founds the parish. A small church/school combo was constructed (at what appears to be a different unspecified location).
  • June 1910 - An extremely rare tornado destroyed the original building.
  • 1911-1923 - The nunnery, rectory, and school where built, while early parishioners worshiped in the basement until the necessary funds were raised to complete the church
  • 1928 - The church was completed for $225,000.
  • March 3, 1993 - The last mass was held at St. Matthew’s .
  • 1998 - Catholic Diocese split the property and sold the church building for $22,000 to World Wide Bible Deliverance Inc., a religious group that also failed to maintain the building
History courtesy BuffaloAH - James Napora, Houses of Worship

Recent Events and Actions Taken

  • 2006 - Church acquired at public tax auction by Scott Weinstein and David Serotta of Williamsville as RE/DEAL PARTNER LLC for $3,500 and quickly listed on eBay. Photographer/blogger David Torke alerted the City's anti-flipping Task Force, which persuaded the owner to halt the listing.
  • 2009 - Frank Beard acquired the property (at what sounds to be no cost) for a community center.
  • 2011 - Without a job, Beard fell thousands of dollars behind on taxes. He scrapped the radiators to cover the cost of paint and lights. He also stripped the copper flashing from the roof, which can result in thousands of dollars in damage for just $50 in scrap value.
  • 2013 - The church fell back into the tax auction process and was acquired for $4,000 by Keith Ware of the Way Christian Community.
  • 2016 - The church was again listed in the city's yearly tax auction, but went unsold.
  • October 2017 - Church is currently listed as an available property at this year's tax auction (list is subject to change until auction begins).
Recent Events courtesy Buffalo Story Project, Buffalo Rising, & PRS

Other Pertinent Facts

  • St. Matthew’s is modeled after the Cathedral of Aachen in Aachen, Germany.

Links


Newest Pages

■ 114 Masten Avenue ■ 112 Masten Avenue ■ 205 Dodge Street ■ 203 Chester Street ■ 229 Orange Street ■ 35 Peach Street ■ 201 Dodge Street ■ 93 Orange Street ■ Owner Julian Russotto ■ 48 Laurel Street ■ 71 Orange Street ■ Moffat's Brewery / Fox & Williams Brewery ■ 169 West Utica Street ■ William Hamlin House ■ 102 Florida Street ■ 100 Florida Street ■ 96 Florida Street ■ 90 Florida Street ■ 88 Florida Street ■ 84 Florida Street ■ 94 Florida Street ■ 61 Imson Street ■ Houses at Knox Farm State Park ■ 233 Dearborn Street ■ Lucy Curley Building ■ 1440 Jefferson Avenue ■ 1567 Genesee Street ■ 954 Sycamore Street ■ 895 Sycamore Street ■ 893 Sycamore Street

Added 2017-07-25 • Last changed 2017-07-26

Buffalo | Buildings At Risk | Buildings | CC | Demo By Neglect | East Side | High Risk | Incomplete Pages | Religious Buildings