Since I’ve lived downtown I’ve had my eyes on this building. Not for much good reason except that it was there, and waiting. But despite being so close, it always stayed locked up and out of reach. In fact, over the years it seemed to defy everyone’s best efforts to occupy it – including those of its many owners…
On Monday we had some fun climbing to the top of Midtown Tower. Today we can have some more fun with Midtown. The City of Rochester is asking the public to name the new street and plaza being built at the Midtown site…
Wow it’s been a while! This week, Let us take a look at Rochester’s best shot at an iconic piece of post-modern architecture downtown. No, not Midtown Tower. I’m talking about Midtown Plaza’s undeveloped “site 6”. As a quick refresher, here are the current plans:
As some of you may or may not know, the city has finally released a Request for Proposals (RFP) on 88 Elm Street . Up front, here’s a link to the RFP , in case you run a development company, or if you’re Larry Glazer and you’re looking for another project to work on.
In any event, here’s some background on 88 Elm St. Somehow, despite being built sometime in the 60s, no one is exactly sure when 88 Elm St. was constructed, or where, exactly, it came from. You’d think that’d be impossible in this day and age, but it’s not. In 1998, the city decided it had enough of the owners of the property not paying their taxes and they took it. All well and good, except now it’s been empty for 15 years. It’s emptier than you might think. The city spent more than a million dollars on an asbestos abatement and a new roof. The building has no electrical system, no sprinkler system, no HVAC, no plumbing. It is a completely bare 13 story tower. That’s a bit of a rarity, and it could be yours for only $360,000. Apparently that’s the market rate for the 13-story husk of a building…
Do you remember window shopping at the big downtown department stores? Freezing cold holiday shoppers all pressed up against the plate glass like moths to a porch light. Dreams of sugar plums and reindeer and presents under the tree were fueled by these sparkling menageries of the latest and greatest stuff. The displays themselves were an art form; and drawing people in off the street was the ultimate goal. In all but our largest metros, scenes like these have been lost as retailers gradually moved to suburban malls. Yesterday we went window shopping at the old Sibley, Lindsay & Curr Co. department store. Today let’s browse a series of pictures (also from the Rochester Public Library) documenting some of the windows at McCurdy & Co. department store in downtown Rochester more than 70 years ago…
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After the Erie Canal was rerouted south of downtown Rochester, the Rochester
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![Old Richford hotel building at 65-67 S. Chestnut Street, Rochester. [IMAGE: Anonymous]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/richford-building-65-67-chestnut-rochester-00.jpg)
![The City of Rochester is asking the public to name the new street and plaza at the Midtown site. [PHOTO: Earthcam.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-midtown-plaza-2014-03-11.jpg)
![88 Elm Street. 13 floors of empty waiting for you to do something with it. [PHOTO: City of Rochester]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/filling-in-88-elm-01.jpg)
![The McCurdy & Norwell Company department store was located at 285-291 Main Street East, at the corner of Elm Street. The display windows are crowded with goods. The store occupied several attached buildings of various heights and styles. c.1901-1913 [PHOTO: Albert R. Stone Collection]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-mccurdy-department-store-windows-02.jpg)
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