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I can’t put my finger on it but for some reason this little building in an all-but-forgotten part of our city has claimed a big spot in my heart. Maybe because it’s human nature to root for the underdog? Maybe I see the story of Rochester being played out as some sort of metaphor—it’s storied past and it’s uncertain future? And so we fight—with everything we’ve got—to turn the tide.

Jim and Jo, whose vision it is to save 72 Conkey, sent us some good news today. And since you all helped make it so I couldn’t wait to share. Mr. Bret Garwood emailed me last week to let me know he received all of our emails and to assure me that he would contact Jim and Jo to discuss their proposal. While there are a lot of parties involved who will have a say in the fate of 72 Conkey, and many of the conversations & details are still up in the air, today we saw a glimmer of hope. Mr. Garwood sent a crew out to tarp the roof where it had been torn open by the fire department a few weeks ago.

While we are far from declaring mission accomplished, at least now we know that someone is listening. And with the roof patched (for now anyway) Jim and Jo can focus on building their case to save 72 for real.

Personally, I intend to email Mr. Garwood once again. This time to thank him. More to come.

Tags: Bret Garwood, City of Rochester, Clifford Avenue, Conkey Avenue, Jim Fraser, Jo Dickinson, Rochester, Rochester Fire Department, Rochester NY, urban renewal, urban revitalization

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 4th, 2010 at 10:40 pm and is filed under Rochester News, Urban Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.