Willert Park Courts: Preservation and Public Housing for African-American Residents

Abstract

Abstract:What should happen when the history embodied by a building is more useful than the building itself? The history of racially segregated housing at Willert Park Courts is incredibly useful, but other factors indicate the structures may not be physically useful as housing today. This public housing complex in Buffalo, New York, was among the first to be designed specifically and exclusively for black residents; it was constructed in 1939 with a Zeilenbau site plan and Modern architecture that provided housing to a community typically excluded from the best facilities. Public housing is again needed at the abandoned site today, but some aspects of the original design do not actually meet the standards required today. In this sense, preserving this site as housing may end up repeating some of history's mistakes rather than learning from them. This article examines the technical difficulties in accommodating regulatory requirements at odds with the contemporary plans to reuse Willert Park Courts as public housing while preserving its historical integrity and seeking the voices of the people who lived there.