RochesterSubway.com : 72 Conkey Avenue: Lost

Posts Tagged ‘Conkey Avenue’...

72 Conkey Avenue: Lost

Sunday, October 25th, 2015

Here’s a quick update on a story we brought attention to exactly five years ago. On this empty lot (shown above) once stood 72 Conkey Avenue. The old 19th century Victorian storefront had been the subject of a demolition-vs-rehabilitation debate—one between the City of Rochester and neighborhood resident, Jim Fraser, who has restored a handful of neglected homes in the area. Jim saw 72 Conkey as a diamond in the rough…

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Sunday, October 25th, 2015
Tags: 14621, City of Rochester, Clifford Avenue, Conkey Avenue, demolition, historic preservation, Ibero, Jim Fraser, Jo Dickinson, Rochester, Rochester NY, urban renewal, urban revitalization
Posted in Rochester News, Urban Development | 8 Comments »

ROC Digital Makeover Contest… 1 Week to Go!

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

Post Your Photos to
Facebook Before June 1.

Given Rochester’s status as the “Image City” and our surplus of neglected real estate, I figured photos of Rochester would be raining down on the RocSubway Facebook page by now.

Here’s an opportunity to see what your city, town, or neighborhood could look like if given a little time and attention. And all you have to do is post a snapshot and get your Facebook pals to “like” it. RocSubway and Photoshop will do the rest.

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Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
Tags: bus-stop, Conkey Avenue, contest, Facebook, Kodak Tower, makeover, Photoshop, Rochester, Rochester City Hall, Rochester NY, rochester photos, vintage postcard of Rochester City Hall and Subway entrance
Posted in Freebies, Rochester Images | No Comments »

The Great ROC City Digital Makeover

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

Now Accepting Your Photo
Submissions (via Facebook)

Former Mayor Robert Duffy once described Rochester as a gem that just needs to be dusted off. That may be over simplifying things just a bit, but I tend to agree. Look around this city and it’s easy to find great beauty in our natural landscape and our built environment – in the new, the old… and the rusted.

Have you ever caught yourself staring at an abandoned building or a grand old house that has seen better days? Is there a park or a public space that could use a few trees, flowers or a fountain? Maybe you squint your eyes to try and see what once was, or what could be? Whatever it is, take a snapshot.

Then head over to our Facebook page and post your pic on our wall. If your photo gets the most “Likes” by midnight May 31, 2011 we’ll give it a Photoshop makeover and you’ll win a FREE 16″x10″ print of this Rochester City Hall vintage postcard. Pretty cool.

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Wednesday, May 4th, 2011
Tags: bus-stop, Conkey Avenue, contest, Facebook, Kodak Tower, makeover, Photoshop, Rochester, Rochester City Hall, Rochester NY, rochester photos, vintage postcard of Rochester City Hall and Subway entrance
Posted in Freebies, Rochester Images | 2 Comments »

72 Conkey: The Tide May Be Turning

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

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.

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Thursday, November 4th, 2010
Tags: Bret Garwood, City of Rochester, Clifford Avenue, Conkey Avenue, Jim Fraser, Jo Dickinson, Rochester, Rochester Fire Department, Rochester NY, urban renewal, urban revitalization
Posted in Rochester News, Urban Development | 1 Comment »

See What’s Possible at 72 Conkey

Sunday, October 24th, 2010

As an artist, I think I maybe I see things in the world around me that other people can’t or just don’t want to. I find myself squinting all the time; trying to imagine what could be. I can’t look at a paper cup without imagining what it might become if Jonathan Ive had his way with it. I know there are a lot of people who probably see 72 Conkey Avenue as nothing more than an eyesore; and then there are people like me who see something different. And that boys and girls, is why there’s Photoshop…

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Sunday, October 24th, 2010
Tags: Bill Johnson, Bret Garwood, City of Rochester, Clifford Avenue, Conkey Avenue, Evergreen Street, Genesee Land Trust, Ibero, Jim Fraser, Jo Dickinson, photo, Photoshop, Project Hope, Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Rochester NY, urban renewal, urban revitalization
Posted in Rochester News, Urban Development | 5 Comments »

Help Save 72 Conkey — Part III

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

Yesterday the little boarded up Victorian house on Conkey Avenue caught the attention of Rachel Barnhart, reporter for WHAM 13 News. And for all of my ranting and raving on this site, I could never have told the story as eloquently as she…

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Thursday, October 21st, 2010
Tags: Bret Garwood, City of Rochester, Clifford Avenue, Conkey Avenue, Evergreen Street, Ibero, Jim Fraser, Jo Dickinson, Project Hope, Rachel Barnhart, Rochester, Rochester NY, urban renewal, urban revitalization, WHAM
Posted in Rochester News, Urban Development, Video | No Comments »

Help Save 72 Conkey — Part II

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

If you responded to my plea last week and sent an email to Bret Garwood asking him to stop the demolition of 72 Conkey Avenue, I offer you my sincerest appreciation. As “coincidence” would have it, less than a week after that post on RochesterSubway.com the City Fire Department used the 1879 Victorian building to hold a training session. The photo above was taken on October 18. Now there are great big gaping holes where there was once a roof.

Is this really happening? I know Mr. Garwood received dozens of emails from RocSubway readers, members of Reconnect Rochester, and myself. I can’t help but ask myself is this act in response to those letters? Is the City reading our letters and giggling to themselves? Come to think of it, I didn’t receive a response to the email I sent last week… did you?

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Tuesday, October 19th, 2010
Tags: 19th Ward, Bret Garwood, City of Rochester, Clifford Avenue, Conkey Avenue, Evergreen Street, Genesee Land Trust, Genesee Street, Ibero, Jim Fraser, Jo Dickinson, Project Hope, Rochester, Rochester Fire Department, Rochester Jewish Orphan Asylum, Rochester NY, urban renewal, urban revitalization
Posted in Rochester News, Urban Development | 4 Comments »

You Can Help Save 72 Conkey Avenue

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

Jo and Jim are quite a remarkable pair. She is a retired school teacher. He works for a company that makes all kinds of machine parts, gauges, and valves. Together they represent nothing short of divine intervention for the City of Rochester.

See, Rochester has a ‘list’. On that list are 200 properties, residential and commercial, that have been given the death sentence. These buildings are on the City’s Demolition List—a list that is only growing. There are some 2,800 vacant structures in Rochester today. If they were all torn down not a single neighborhood would be untouched—though some neighborhoods have more than their share of deteriorating buildings. I myself pass through the northern section of Saint Paul Street everyday on my way to work. Not a day goes by that I don’t think to myself, “gosh darn I wish I could save that old building.” Or “golly gee I wish I could buy that old house and fix it up.”