The Larkin District has a new nationally registered landmark.  The Kamman Building at 755 Seneca Street, being renovated by architectural firm Chantreuil Jensen Stark as its local office, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places (entry image).  In addition, a Multiple Property Documentation Form has also been listed laying the groundwork for property owners to designate other buildings in the neighborhood as historic.  Chantreuil Jensen Stark can pursue Historic Preservation Rehabilitation Tax Credits with the listing.

Architectural Historian Jennifer Walkowski of Clinton Brown Company Architecture prepared the documentation necessary for the National Register listing.  She had help from planner and blogger Chris Hawley and Daniel McEneny, Historic Preservation Program Specialist with the New York State Historic Preservation Office.

"Jennifer did an outstanding job with this pioneering Multiple Property Documentation Form that provides the framework for designating buildings as historic," says firm president Clinton Brown, AIA. 

"The work was commissioned by Bob Stark at Chantreuil Jensen Stark for tax credits for their rehabilitation of the Kamman Building, and Bob generously made it available as a gift to other building owners to use for their properties," says Brown.  "Bob and his colleagues deserve a lot of credit for this."

According to Daniel McEneny, the National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form (MPDF) is a planning document that is meant to streamline and guide the process of the National Register (NR) program for a community or property owner.  A MPDF captures the broad themes and contexts of an area or a property type.

For example, McEneny says an MPDF can identify an architecture method or subtype such as stone houses in Lockport or Lustron Houses in New York State, or it can identify areas that share the same architectural contexts such as architectural resources of the Village of Lancaster or industrial resources in the City of Syracuse.

Larkin/Hydraulics is not a National Register District.  A district is a neighborhood such as Allentown or the West Village that lists contiguous properties within a defined boundary that maintain historic integrity and are linked by a historic context.  Each property after the district listing is complete is individually listed on the National Register.  Not so in Larkin.

"Since the Hydraulics/Larkin neighborhood is clearly not cohesive enough to be a National Register district, the MPDF planning document provides an excellent tool for those individual property owners looking to designate their properties on the NR," says McEneny. 

"These properties must maintain architectural integrity and share one of the indentified themes in the MPDF," adds McEneny.  "Instead of having to reinvent the wheel every time a property owner wants to list their building, they can refer to the MPDF for guidance.  Essentially the MPDF is a cover document which brings short and concise National Register nominations under its wing."

McEneny says developers are already expressing interest in additional redevelopment projects in the neighborhood.  "We have already received a handful of calls about upcoming projects in Larkin," he says. "There are more good things to come."

-HISTORIC RESOURCES OF THE HYDRAULICS/LARKIN NEIGHBORHOOD, BUFFALO, ERIE COUNTY, NY was accepted by National Park Service on March 1, 2010. 

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