Remaking Midtown Plaza

8/2/2019 Remaking Midtown Plaza

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STO R Y B Y MAYA DUKMASO VAt was a cold and rainy day indowntown Rochester last spring. Ahandful of onlookers had gatheredto watch as a crane wielding a5,000-pound wrecking ball slowlydemolished the side of the oldMcCurdy's department store.

A man who looked to be inhis 50s took pictures of the drearyscene. He turned to me and said,"I remember, when I was little, my

mother used to take me shopping there. Aroundthe holidays these sidewalks were packed, elbow toelbow!" He paused and thought for a few moments,then added decisively: "Rochester is never comingback. It'll never be the way it was."

As the wrecking ball continued to bash the sideof the building-steel and brick guts spilling outonto the pavement below-a woman walked by andexclaimed, "I want my mall back!"

Within the lifetime ofmost of these onlookers,downtown had gone from a bustling community tothis: a huge hole where Midtown Plaza once stood.

PAETEC's headquarters, of course, were meantto become the crown jewel of downtown. With theWindstream Corporation purchase ofPAETEC,development plans are now limited to renovating theexisting Seneca Building at the site.

As the community continues to consider thefuture of the site, some are suggesting an overhaul ofhow urban development is approached.Midtown Rising?

"Downtown is a place, not a project-andcreating great places for people is where[community planning] should be," said Joni Monroe,executive director of the Rochester RegionalCommunity Design Center. She cited severalexamples of similar sized cities where a morecommunity-oriented development approach hasyielded great results: St. Paul, Madison, Providence,Chattanooga and San Antonio. All of these citieshave a "vision plan" for sustainable development.

While in the past, communities could relyon visionary business leaders bolstered by ahealthy economy to accomplish large-scaleurban development, today such an approach isincreasingly risky and expensive. The RRCDC

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explained. "If they invest in a particular developmentplan, they know what's going to be there."

Treating downtown development on a project-by-project basis, on the other hand, affords no securityand can result in major disappointment such as wehave recently witnessed. "We do have a city plan,"she added, "but it needs to be amended and revisedbecause it's not easy to use in its current format."

The Rochester Downtown DevelopmentCorporation's view has remained optimistic despitethe uncertainty. President Heidi Zimmer-Meyerpointed out that the money invested by the state tomake much of the 8.6-acre Midtown block "shovel-ready" has not been wasted. The site is now ready sopotential investors could begin a project immediately.

"Major redevelopment projects like this-particularly former urban mall properties-almostalways require a public-private partnership tomake them happen," Zimmer-Meyer wrote in anemail. "I would rate Midtown Rising as a success todate ..We have a mayor and city administration thathave committed to the visionary, market-realisticand responsible redevelopment of this nearly nine-acre site."

Though the communication between officials,investors and citizens has been criticized, Zimmer-Meyer insisted that we are much closer todaythan we have been in the past to successfulcollaborations to revitalize the city. Though therehave been major failures such as the fast ferry andRenaissance Square, there have been many moresuccessful projects that have creatively reused oldspaces and revitalized the city commercially andresidentially. Zimmer-Meyer cited examples like theNothnagle headquarters, Strong Museum expansion,redevelopment ofHigh Falls and twenty-fourresidential conversion projects.

If and when new investors are found for theMidtown site, and design plans move forward onceagain, local architects and community activists insistthat we must learn from past mistakes and createspaces on a human scale.

"There has been an unfortunate evolution awayfrom design quality as a value and more towardsefficiency and the way a building works as opposedto the quality and the character of the spaces it'screating," said James Durfee, principal architectand vice president of Bergmann Associates, who


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mind, body & soul

Learning from the pastIn many ways, the history ofRochester

has been a classic American one. Once,downtown was a bustling industrial andcommercial hub; now,its most prominentdowntown-based company is in bankruptcy.As the city recovers from decades ofeconomic decline, we're seeing the returnofbusinesses downtown and, with them, ahope for a revitalized city center.

But when it comes to development, weneed look no further than our downtown'shistory to figure out what works best.'Delight and dignity'

The city's original heart was in theFour Corners district, at the intersectionofE. Main and State streets. In the late1800s, before zoning restrictions, theurban environment expanded organically.Wealthy, powerful individuals like DanielPowers, Frank Elwood and Hiram Sibleycould construct buildings accordingto their own tastes, which explainsthe prominence of ornate, imaginativearchitecture in the district. Nearby flourmills and factories made this a convenientlocation for office space, banks and retail-white-collar complements to the city'sindustrial heartbeat.

"The most treasured buildings in anyAmerican city tend to be from this era,"said Rochester historian and author DanielPalmer. "I think it is because the owner/builder back then understood the need tobring some sort ofdelight and dignity tothe design of their buildings."

A building's size, height andtechnological features were the main focusofcommissioners. The Powers Building isa perfect example, with its tiers offloors,added as Daniel Powers sought to thwartrivals who tried to out-build his originalconstruction.

Besides the extravagant officebuildings, the Four Corners was also fullofsmaller residential structures andcountless shops. Like any other Americancity, Rochester's streets were bustling withpeople, horse carts, and later the trolleyline. The East Main Street Bridge over theGenesee River was even lined with shopsand apartment buildings.

The combination of commercial,residential and industrial activitytransformed Rochester from a small towninto a successful city within 50 years. InROCI-IESTER MAGAZINE

another 50, companies likeKodak andXerox would make it world-class.

But it was opportunities forindividuals-not corporations-to developit that made the city's downtown lively andattractive. A building carried a man's name(Powers, Sibley) and a man's character;it was the expression of an individualvision. Later, as corporations grew andmodernism entered design circles, suchexpressions of individuality were frownedupon for reinforcing class boundaries andfor being too expensive.

The Depression, the war and theprosperity that followed transformedthe lives ofAmericans in radical ways.Suburbanization brought an era of declinefor Rochester's downtown. As in otherrust belt cities, its mom-and-pop stores,machine shops and dive bars becamehallmarks of urban blight. Downtownbecame the place where a suburbanpopulation arrived every day to work, onlyto leave right after.Grand plans, grim reality

Plans for the construction of a massiveCivic Center downtown began at the turnof the century. George Eastman advocatedfor the construction of an ornate Beaux-Arts city hall straddling the river, andthrough the following decades, the visiongrew to encompass two city blocks and apark, museum, courts building, library andauditorium.

A 1930article in The N ew York Tim estriumphantly announced: "In place ofthe shreds and patches created to meetconditions of successive eras, the citywill have an ordered plan ofdevelopmentwhich its backers say will assure equalopportunity to all types of real estate andreduce congestion to a minimum well intothe next century."

Yet by the time ground was broken in1958,the plans had changed significantly.And when the project was finallycompleted around 1970,it fell short ofeventhe modified design proposed in 1956.

"What it actually did do was destroyan old neighborhood and put in its placea sea ofconcrete," said Nancy Martin,University ofRochester archivist andRochester Collections librarian.

Unlike in the old neighborhood, with itsshops, houses and the old RITcampus, atthe Civic Center "there was no way people

T h e P o we rs B u ild in g d ow nto wn is a g em , b ut e ve ntu allys uc h o rn ate s ty le w as s ee n a s e xc es siv e a nd e ga lita ria n.

would accidentally brush into people onaday-by-day basis. It became a forbidden typeof environment," Martin added.

The grand tower included in theoriginal Civic Center plans was scrapped,and the plaza and park area were neverextended all the way to the riverside. Theresult was the group ofbleak buildingswe see today that were "left to take thecriticism oftheir blandness, even thoughthey were meant to be backgroundbuildings and not the focus ofthe complex,"Palmer said.

The Civic Center as well as otherconstruction of this period was emblematicofurban renewal efforts throughout thecountry. Old city neighborhoods were oftenviewed as cluttered and unclean, from a


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mind, body & soul

space for pedestrian activity and publicparks, chocking off the city center fromsurrounding neighborhoods.

Successful as it was, Midtownbelonged to an era that passed. Eventually,people were drawn away because shoppingappeared in the suburbs where theyactually lived. The mere creation of a townsquare space is not enough to create atown. Gruen's project sought to remedy thesymptoms rather than the cause of urbanblight, soMidtown and highways couldonly be a temporary solution.Corn Hill community

More recent years have seenthe return of holistic approaches torecreate vibrant community-orientedneighborhoods in Rochester.

"The main positive effect ofthe CivicCenter is that it lit a fire under the localpreservation community and sparked-asa reaction to its destructive presence-therevitalization ofwhat remained of theThird Ward," Palmer said. Corn HillLanding, owned by Mark IV Construction,has been one of the most visible examples.

The development's website states:"Our goal is to recapture the charm ofthe European village and update it withthe finest comforts ofmodern luxury."Its combination ofresidential, retail andrestaurant space, along with variouson-site services, benefits from its prime,picturesque waterfront location. Yetdowntown still hasn't reached the criticalmass to attract all the services thatresidents need-a grocery store, especially.

Since opening in 2005, Corn HillLanding has seen some businesses comeand go.Yet other businesses have remainedactive and attractive to locals beyond CornHill Landing itself: And whether that goalof emulating a "European village" has beenachieved is in the eye of the beholder. Someformer residents have said the sense ofcommunity is contrived. But Rob Goodling,vice president of the Corn Hill neighborsassociation, lauds the transformationfrom empty and unkempt lots to adeveloped waterfront that has enriched theneighborhood as a whole.

Goodling said that the developmenthas created an attractive destination,

not only for pedestrian locals but also forsuburban residents. Yet he admits the senseof community hasn't expanded. "I don'tknow that a lot of the people who rent theapartments have become all that involvedinCorn Hillitself,"he said. "We don't see a lotofthose residents at Corn Hillneighborhoodactivities. I think it's because they are onthe fringe. Also they are rental units-there's a transience to that."

Mixed-use developments likeCorn Hill Landing and Village Gatedo provide valuable services to theirneighborhoods and attractive destinationsfor nonresidents. However, the needfor authenticity and a rooted sense ofcommunity are indispensable-and achallenge-for a neighborhood being builtout of the rubble of urban renewalBack to the present

The history lesson is simple: Tocontinue to develop the downtownresidential sector, it's crucial to invest inthe creation ofmore green spaces, retail,restaurants, grocery stores and culturalcenters-on an inviting scale-in addition to

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ishing a steady corporate presence.If the Midtown site is to become ahborhood, there will need to be "somer smaller-scale development to give ittexture," said Craig Jensen, principal

itect at CJS Architects, who has beening on renovation designs ofMidtownr for Christa Development Corp.Morgan Management LLC. CJS hasosed converting the tower mostlyapartments for rent, with the top fourconverted into condos for sale.Jensen added that an important rolety government is to "shepherd thatinto the right kinds ofuses."Extrapolating on his design plans forown Tower, Jensen said: "For us, it'sy important to get services at streetthat everybody can use, so that firsts of the building become open to theic as much as possible, so it activatesdewalk." Including retail space andces in the first floor ofmore massivetures is important "to encouragele to get out there in something othertheir cars," Jensen added."Right now,walkable urban real

estate is extremely in demand in thiscountry," said Monroe ofthe CommunityDesign Center, stressing the importanceof planners "creating smaller blocks thatpeople find more manageable." Most agreethat the Inner loop must eventually beremoved to reconnect downtown withsurrounding areas to once again createurban neighborhoods.

But architects, historians andcommunity members agree this doesn'tmean a return to the good old days.

"I think downtown is returning to lifeas a different entity than it was before,"said Martin, the DR archivist. "I think it'seasy to lament what a vibrant downtownwas decades ago. But I think today, manyof the important buildings are beingreconfigured as residential loft housing,and it appears to be working."

While such optimism is productive andnecessary, Victoria Wolcott underlined theimportance ofbeing conscious ofhistory toavoid past design mistakes: "There has to bea way inwhich it's inviting...It has to be trulypublic. Youcan't say you're creating publicspace and have it allbe inside a building or

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with security guards."The key ingredient to success

will be to achieve a "critical mass" ofpeople living downtown, says Durfee ofBergmann Associates. A neighborhoodcannot thrive if its inhabitants are onlythere from 9 to 5.

Said Jensen: "There'S no reasonwhy it can't work, but it doesn't mean itwill happen without an effort. You haveto be very careful about how you do it,and all the involved parties have to havean understanding of what makes thecity work."

Most ofall, "we need to have patience,"concluded Zimmer-Meyer, "These kindsof projects can take a long time, andassembling funding and support can feellike a roller coaster ride. And finally,weshould be willing to take risks (with carefulanalysis and clear market feedback), andshould not be traumatized by failure." .I l

M aya D uk ma so va stu diedp hilo so ph y a nd re lig io n a t th e U niv ersityo f R ochester and w ill be pursuing ag ra du ate d eg re e in a rt h isto ry .

0:1:'maybe I just need _ jsome new glasses.Be who you are ... or who you want to be.Corne see all the new styles straightfrom Paris and available only here.

R OC HE STER M AG AZ IN E 53

Remaking Midtown Plaza

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