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Posts Tagged ‘abandoned subway’...
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
Back in January I stumbled upon a Flickr photo collection  full of urban exploration photos from all around the Great Lakes and several “rust belt” cities… with several shots from Rochester and the abandoned subway tunnel. Shot after shot revealed some pretty unique views of Rochester’s underground world plus other amazing abandoned structures. As it happens, the owner of these wonderfully gritty photo streams is Chris Luckhardt, organizer of the Toronto Exploration Society. Chris is also the creative force behind Motionblur Studios —a low budget, high quality studio located west of Toronto.
Originally from Stratford, Ontario, Chris Luckhardt’s creative exploration has driven him from New Foundland to Pheonix in search of forgotten places—strangely spiritual, places we’re not ’supposed’ to go. I contacted Chris to find out a little more about these photos and what enticed him to visit the bowels of downtown Rochester…
ROCHESTERSUBWAY.COM: Hi Chris, I noticed you have a couple of nice shots of the abandoned Rochester Subway. How often do you visit the subway tunnel? Can you tell me a bit about yourself and your photos?
 CHRIS: Sure, thanks for the feedback! I’m the organizer for the Toronto Exploration Society . The group, founded in February 2005, specializes in urban exploration (mostly around the Great Lakes region) and photo walks (mostly in Toronto). I’m currently west of Toronto in Cambridge, Ontario. Rochester was the first US city I visited strictly for urban exploration. I have lots of photos and video from inside the [Rochester] subway. I’ve been down there 5 times in the past 4 years, the last time being a couple of months ago. I also have lots of SD and HD video, but I haven’t processed anything yet.
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Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
Tags: abandoned subway, abandoned subway tunnel, abandoned tunnel, Canada, Canon, Chris Luckhardt, Cleveland, Cleveland subway, Detroit, Dinosaur Bar B Que, Flickr, Lee Plaza, Manchester NY, Michigan Central Station, Motionblur Studios, New Foundland, Phoenix, photo, photography, Photomatix, Photoshop, Rochester, Rochester Historical Society, Rochester NY, Rochester Subway, Toronto, Toronto Exploration Society, Trotting Park, urban exploration, urban explorers
Posted in Interviews, Rochester Subway, Rochester Subway Stories | No Comments »
Saturday, October 10th, 2009
For decades it’s been an inconvenient truth for Rochester. The abandoned Erie Canal turned ghost subway tunnel has long been considered a ticking time-bomb. It’s widely known that the city has wanted to fill at least the west end of the tunnel for many years, citing critical safety deficiencies in the structure beneath the street surface. But, with Rochester’s ongoing economic struggles and estimates into the $10’s of millions, the project has been repeatedly delayed (or swept under the rug). Until now…
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Saturday, October 10th, 2009
Tags: abandoned subway, ADROC, Advocates for the Development of Rochester's Canal, Broad Street, Broad Street Tunnel Improvement Project, Brown Street, Chill-the-Fill, City of Rochester, Denver, downtown Rochester, Erie Canal, federal stimulus money, Main Street, New York, Nick Tahou's, Rochester, Rochester NY, Rochester Regional Community Design Center, Rochester Subway, Roger Brown, RRCDC, RRTC, satellite image, subway tunnel, Tom Grasso, Tom Hack, trolley
Posted in Interviews, Rochester News, Rochester Subway | 24 Comments »
Friday, October 9th, 2009
Interview with Tom Hack, P.E., Project Manager
ROCHESTERSUBWAY.COM: It was recently brought to our attention that the City of Rochester is taking bids from contractors to repair and/or fill the abandoned subway tunnel under Broad Street. Can you confirm this? If so, what are the details of the job?
Tom Hack: The fill is going to take place from Brown Street to the RR portal next to Nick Tahoe’s (it involves about 1900 lf out of 4600 lf total). We are maintaining the RR portal behind Nick Tahoe’s as that will serve as a new access/maintenance road into the remaining sections of the tunnel.
ROCHESTERSUBWAY.COM: When are you hoping to start the work?
Tom Hack: We are scheduled to open bids on October 19, 2009. We hope to have “actual” construction operations underway in early December 2009, however the bulk of the tasks won’t hit their stride until April-May 2010.
ROCHESTERSUBWAY.COM: What range do you expect the bids to come in at? (in $$)
Tom Hack: We anticipate that bids for the work will be in the range of $14-16 Million (+/-).
ROCHESTERSUBWAY.COM: Is this project part of a larger initiative? i.e. Is this just Phase 1 in filling the rest of the tunnel, or maybe prep work for some larger project involving Broad Street?
Tom Hack: This project is a standalone project but obviously it does has ramifications toward other city proposed initiatives. Four issues that come into play are:
- Parking within the confines of the remaining rehabilitated sections of the Tunnel
- Phase III and IV of Rochester’s Historic Canal District Initiative does envision partial use of this space for the creation of the West end Basin, however the timing of this phase is 15-20 years out and obviously the dynamics and market conditions may dictate other uses.
- Stabilization and general enhancement of the corridor. This project does strengthen, link and unify the visual attributes of the surrounding land uses and neighborhoods. This is an overall initiative of the City and indirectly the streetscape amenities that we will be installing does add value in that regard.
- The project does advance the Rochester Heritage Trail. The Rochester Heritage trail is a designated walkway linking the City’s multitude of historic feature, dating when downtown was a port on the Erie Canal and the burgeoning center of commerce, industry and social activism. This is a self guided walk that identifies historic sites and tells the stories of Rochester’s people, places, and cultures as they impacted development of our nation. (Think Boston’s Freedom Trial)
Friday, October 9th, 2009
Tags: abandoned subway, Boston's Freedom Trail, Broad Street, Brown Street, City of Rochester, downtown Rochester, Erie Canal, fill, interview, New York, Nick Tahoe's, Rochester, Rochester Heritage Trail, Rochester NY, Rochester's Historic Canal District, subway tunnel
Posted in Interviews, Rochester Subway | No Comments »
Friday, September 18th, 2009
No it’s not for people with one eye. Monocle is a global current affairs magazine (published in the U.K.) with a sharp aesthetic and an editorial tone that suggests we can build a better world if we just think creatively about global problems. And wouldn’t you know, they took notice of our little Rochester Subway map in their September issue. Brilliant!
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Friday, September 18th, 2009
Tags: abandoned subway, article, Cincinnati, Cincinnati Subway, Cincinnati Transit Map for Optimists t-shirt, Dream Machines, Monocle Magazine, New York, NY, OH, Ohio, Rochester, Rochester Subway, Rochester Subway map, Rochester Subway Poster, Sasha Issenberg
Posted in Rochester News, Rochester Subway, Subway Gifts | No Comments »
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