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[Fwd: (wnyhistory) As funds run dry, archives run out of space]



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: (wnyhistory) As funds run dry, archives run out of space
Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2001 10:25:44 -0400
From: "Steve Powell" <spowell@winters.ca>
Reply-To: WNYHistory@lists.Buffalonian.com
To: "1WNYHistory List" <wnyhistory@lists.Buffalonian.com>

In today's Buffalo News...
===================================================
As funds run dry, archives run out of space

By BRIAN MEYER
News Staff Reporter
10/22/01


Buffalo is running out of space to store tens of thousands of records
that
date from the 1830s, and the head of the city's records-management
program
warns of major problems unless a new storage facility is found.
But public works officials say that a building records storage center
would
cost up $2 million, money the cash-strapped city is hard-pressed to find
in
light of other capital projects that are currently in limbo.

City Clerk Charles L. Michaux III sent a memo to the Common Council
warning
that unless more space is identified soon, about $1 million will be
needed
to microfilm or digitize records that are currently in storage.

"And that's just scratching the surface," Michaux wrote, noting that new
documents pour into the Inactive Records Storage Center on the 16th
floor of
City Hall every day.

Hundreds of boxes of old records are also stored in the City Court
building
across from City Hall, in an old police station at Colvin and Linden
avenues
and in other city buildings, Public Works Commissioner Joseph N. Giambra
said Sunday.

"We clearly recognize the need for records management. It's a state
mandate," Giambra said. "But right now, there are other priorities that
have
to be addressed. Priority No. 1 has to be the Broadway Garage."

Earlier this year, state inspectors uncovered more than 100 safety and
health violations at 197 Broadway, a city-owned building that houses the
snow-fighting fleet and trash-removal vehicles. A consultant's study
estimated that building a new vehicle-maintainence facility would cost
about
$25 million, while renovating the existing structure would cost $13
million
to $15 million.

A citizens panel that makes recommendations to the city about capital
spending has urged city leaders to postpone funding any new projects in
the
coming year. The mayor must send his recommendations to the Common
Council
within two weeks.

But Michaux warned that ignoring the need for additional records space
would
be imprudent.

"I no longer know how to express the dire straits the Inactive Records
Center is in. We have no available shelving space left," he reported.
"Boxes
and boxes of city records are currently stored on the floor throughout
the
facility."

Michaux also disputed estimates by public works officials that building
a
new storage center would cost $1.8 million to $2 million.

"I find this to be an unrealistic amount of money, since Niagara County
spent only $500,000 for their new facility, and this price includes a
sprinkler system," Michaux wrote.

During the last decade, records-management crews have used state grants
and
city funds to improve procedures for storing and retrieving documents.
The
records include minutes from Common Council sessions dating from 1832
and
historic documents signed by former mayors, including Grover Cleveland
and
William Fargo.

"I understand that the City of Buffalo is going through a fiscal
crisis,"
Michaux told lawmakers. "However, if the city's doors were to close
tomorrow, the records of this great city would still need to be
maintained."

-Buffalo News
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20011022/1048180.asp


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