Imagine you are the new owner of a giant, underutilized parking lot*. What would you do with it? Would you leave it as is? Tear out the pavement and start a community garden? What if there was an apartment building next to it. Would you tear it down and build a skyscraper? These are all excellent ideas. We here at filling in solicited input from a variety of fellow RochesterSubway.com contributors, and it’s clear that we all have different ideas about what to do…
*Disclaimer – I am a new part owner of a giant, underutilized parking lot. This one, in fact.
The Rochesterian has blogged several times about the need to create a link between Frontier Field and Sahlen’s Stadium… and how Rochester needs someone like Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula to invest in a Harbor Center type of development centered around Rochester’s sports arenas. I don’t disagree. Rochester’s stadiums (and the neighborhoods around them) could, and should be a much bigger draw.
Last April a local businessman named Jerry DeCarolis sent me a concept plan he put together called “Stadiumville.” I was impressed. But this plan was so ambitious, and so broad-sweeping, I wasn’t quite sure how seriously to take it. And so I ended up sitting on the document – until now…
Here’s a neat little collection of Rochester memorabilia. Matchbooks! Remember when you could buy cigarettes out of a vending machine like soda pop, and just about every business had it’s own matchbooks? Ah, those were the days * COUGH * COUGH * WEEZE * EHK! EHK! HEM… HEEEM!
These were sent to me by a reader. He says he’s not a smoker, but he’s collected them since he was a kid. And now he’d like to sell them. So if you’re interested in local oddities like this, drop me an email and we’ll hook you up with one… or the entire set.
Some of the matchbooks date from the late 1950s and early 1960s. But we think most of them are 1970s & 80s. Check them out for yourself. If you’ve lived in Rochester for any length of time you’ll probably recognize most of these businesses…
Local balloon artists Larry Moss and Kelly Cheatle are hard at work right now constructing an enormous, 5-story tall beanstalk entirely out of balloons in the atrium of Rochester’s landmark Sibley Building.
Unlike previous haunted “Balloon Manors” you may remember at area shopping malls, admission is completely free for the public to come and enjoy this one. Balloon Manor: The VERY Tall Tale of Jack and his Beanstalk is due to be completed today, and open for viewing thru Sunday, February 9…
Walter has been a fixture at local sporting events and concerts for decades. Known to most Rochesterians as “The Accordion Man,” Walter plays his squeezebox (and sings) outside most hockey, basketball and lacrosse games… at music events all around the city… and of course, a Redwings game would not be the same without Walter’s rendition of Take Me Out To The Ballgame playing in the background as fans line up at the turnstiles.
In a recent phone conversation with him, Walter told me he’s been playing around Rochester for three decades. He’s missed only one game in the past 15 years. And he’s gone through 83 accordions. His latest one is currently out of commission with broken keys and a worn strap…
Rochester’s landmark Holy Rosary Church and Catholic school complex at Lexington and Dewey Avenues has been rehabilitated for new residential units and a large community space in the former church. The $15 million project by Providence Housing Development and SWBR Architects was made possible with equity provided by Enterprise Community Partners, City home-renovation grants & loans, and a payment in lieu of taxes agreement.
At the time of the groundbreaking in August 2012, Congresswoman Louise Slaughter praised Providence Housing for bringing “affordable, attractive housing to a community that eagerly awaits such good news.” Well, wait no more. The ribbon was cut this past November, and the historic church buildings have emerged as 60 units of much needed affordable housing and community space…
Last month RocSubway Facebook fans brought us rumors of a new grocery store for downtown Rochester (those rumors turned out to be true). Now comes an equally exciting rumor from RocSubway that has also checked out. John Tachin, owner of Mr. Dominic’s restaurant in Charlotte has purchased the former Lakeshore Drive-In site and is considering plans to reopen it as a drive in movie theater…
In 2012 we were surprised to learn that RGRTA had dug up the foundation of the RKO Palace Theater while excavating for the new transit terminal. This week, Jim Memmott reported on some more fantastic treasures that were unearthed at the same site. Some time last year seven heavy stones (some weighing a ton) were pulled up from depths of up to 30 feet below street level. Each stone bore a symbol of the Freemasons…
Like, WOW! I stumbled upon this concept for an elevated transit terminal in a 1967 D&C article. The drawing shows how Rochester Transit Corporation president William Lang envisioned passengers would wait for their bus – suspended above the intersection of Main & Clinton. This view is looking east toward Clinton Avenue with Sibley’s in the background…
Roc City Skatepark, originally planned to be built under the interstate 490 Frederick Douglass–Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge, now has a new location… maybe even several new locationS…
RocSubway was informed over the weekend by two separate and anonymous sources that a new independent grocer may be coming to downtown Rochester in 2014. Admittedly, this may be unsubstantiated and premature. But these sources have been very reliable in the past. And if true, this would be wildly good news for downtown.
And what the hell, this is a blog, not the Associate Press. I think I have the right to circulate some juicy gossip once in a while…
In 2013 I gave myself a photo assignment. Pick 13 subjects, and take 13 snapshots of each… 13x13x13. At some point during the project I decided it’d be much more interesting to open this assignment to anyone who wants to participate. I’m glad I did. The following series of 13 comes from local photographer Arleen Hodge . These are portraits of 13 Rochesterians she’s met on the streets. Arleen says she is grateful to call these people her “friends.”
“They all have stories and they are truly a great bunch of men who are suffering another facet of the human condition,” Arleen reasons. “When I’m shooting underground for a night, these guys look out for me. There are those who are quick to judge… but these would be the guys to jump in and save your life.”
I can think of no better subject for this merry time of year – and less than a week after we were forced to face the facts; that Rochester stands as the fifth poorest city in the United States. It’s not just a city problem. According to that report by The Rochester Area Community Foundation, 160,000 people living within the nine-county region are living in poverty. These are our neighbors. Our friends. These could easily be portraits of you or me…
The City of Rochester Bureau of Planning and Zoning is in the process of updating Center City Master Plan. From the City’s website, “The intent is for this document to be a strategic plan [to] help the city measure and celebrate downtown progress, prioritize further research and analysis, prioritize projects, and help secure funding.”
A draft plan can be viewed online , and in a series of open houses the City is now gathering public input on that draft. The last open house is this Wednesday evening (details at the end of this story).
I had a chance to catch up with Jason Haremza, senior planner with the City of Rochester, to ask a few questions about the update…
Welcome back, readers. It’s been a while. Today I’d like to look at a project that we could bring into the pipeline almost immediately. I say could, because there are almost assuredly zoning issues with what I’m proposing. That said, we could still get rolling on it immediately, because the site happens to already be on the market for $10,000! Let’s see what we’re getting for our money, what we’re building, and some numbers on the whole thing…
From the 1850’s to the 1930’s stereograms were considered cutting edge home entertainment technology. Two photos taken at the same time from slightly different angles would be view together using a special set of lenses called a stereoscope. The result would be an ever so subtle (yet mind-tingling) simulated 3D view…
Here’s an update to last Friday’s story about Marilyn Casserino, 79. Marilyn is the girl in the dark dress in the center of the photo above. This picture was taken c.1939 on the roof of the Children’s Building at Iola Tuberculosis Sanitorium where Marilyn was a patient, along with her mother Vivian.
Unfortunately, Marilyn’s mom passed away while at the hospital. Marilyn was just 6 at the time. Looking back at those days, she now wishes she could remember more – about her mom, and about this place where they were treated for well over a year.
For starters, she wanted to try and find out who the other girls in the photo were. Would you believe in less than one week we’ve now identified two of those girls…
In 2013 I gave myself a photo assignment. Pick 13 subjects, and take 13 snapshots of each… 13x13x13. Turns out this was much more work than I thought. So I’ve been accepting submissions from others. Today’s series of 13 comes to us from Tiny Fish Printing , a custom apparel printing company located near the public market.
T-shirts are an American staple. We all have our favorite one that we wear until our belly button shows through. They’re a great way to show our support for our favorite local institutions… restaurants, bands, clubs, etc. They allow us to show off our creative side, even we don’t have a creative bone in our body. And best of all, they keep us from being naked.
Uh, ok… Let’s just take a look at 13 awesome local t-shirt designs…
This former department store (Sibley, Lindsay & Curr Company) is truly massive. Rochester’s Sibley Building weighs in at over 1.1 million square feet (23 acres of floorspace) – easily the largest building in Monroe County.
WinnCompanies out of Boston now owns the property and plans to spend up to $200 Million over the next five years to bring it back to life as mixed-use space. Holy smokes, do these guys have their work cut out for them. You may have noticed new windows and awnings along Main Street? Some 2,000 windows have yet to be replaced.
Last week the UofR Urban Explorers Club went on a tour through the maze of hallways and spaces, from the dark sub-basement all the way up to the two massive water tanks on the tower rooftop…
A couple months ago we took a look inside the Iola tuberculosis hospital on Westfall Road. The buildings have since been demolished. But for Marilyn Casserino, 79, those photos triggered memories, and questions that will linger on…
Earlier this year we took a look at some amazing photos of this abandoned swimming pool on the University of Rochester campus. Within days of those photos being posted here, the university had cleaned up the scene. These new photos got lost in my computer which is why you’re just seeing them now. But I thought it was worth revisiting…
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After the Erie Canal was rerouted south of downtown Rochester, the Rochester
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![Matthew Denker ponders the possibilities at his new property at 93 Marsh Street. [IMAGE: Google Streetview]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/filling-in-marsh-street-01.jpg)
!['Balloon Manor: The Very Tall Tale of Jack & His Beanstalk' at the Sibley Building, Rochester, NY. [PHOTO: RochesterSubway.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/jack-and-the-beanstalk-balloon-sculpture-00.jpg)
![Walter, Rochester's accordion man, performing underneath the Freddie-Sue bridge in Corn Hill as a crowd gathers for the Eddie Money 'Party in the Park' concert [PHOTO: Jeff Gerew, C7Photo.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-accordion-man-walter-palmer-01.jpg)
![Holy Rosary Church, Rochester NY. 1923. [PHOTO PROVIDED BY: Preservation Studios]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/holy-rosary-church-rochester-07.jpg)
![The marquee sign at the former Lakeshore Drive-in Theatre in Greece, NY. [PHOTO: NewYorkDriveIns.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-lakeshore-drive-in-movie-theater-marquee.jpg)
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![The Roc City Skatepark was planned to be built under the I-490 Freddie-Sue Bridge. [PHOTO: RocCitySkatepark.org]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/roc-city-skatepark.jpg)
![A new independent grocer may be coming to downtown in 2014. [PHOTO: benchilada, Flickr]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/grocery-produce.jpg)
![13 Rochesterians [PHOTOS BY: Arlene Hodge]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/13-homeless-rochesterians.jpg)
![Rochester Center City [PHOTO: RocPx.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-center-city-master-plan-01.jpg)
![Matthew Denker looks at the feasibility of filling in this empty lot on Genesee Street. [IMAGE: Google Maps]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/filling-in-446-genesee-street-01.jpg)
![3D Stereogram of High Falls (c.1885) [PHOTO: Rochester Public Library]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/high-falls-rochester-1885.gif)
![Children (patients) on the roof of Iola Tuberculosis Sanatorium (c.1939). That's Marilyn Casserino in the center. [PHOTO COURTESY OF: Marilyn Murphree]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/iola-tuberculosis-sanatorium-children-crop.jpg)
![13 Rochester T-shirts [PHOTO: Tiny Fish Printing]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/13-rochester-tshirts.jpg)
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