Ghosts of RenSquare

It appears that some of the buildings along Main Street that were due for demolition when the RenSquare plan still existed are now being considered, along with 'GASP' the possibility of staying in the Sibley Building - where they have managed to survive the horrible working conditions for years - albeit in a newly remodeled space on the lower floors of the former department store.

Following is an article from March 15, 2011's D&C:

MCC looking at three options for downtown campus

12:12 AM, Mar. 15, 2011  |  

Midtown Falling

Some images of the ongoing demolition of Midtown Plaza...

Midtown Plaza from above. Main Street is north. Broad Street is at the bottom of the image. The McCurdy and Euclid buildings are top right, the Citizen's Bank building is top left, Seneca, B. Forman and Wegmans buildings run from north to south along South Clinton Ave, Midtown Tower at center bottom and the Atrium/Town Square is at the center of the complex. The images start at the bottom left corner of this overview and then in a clockwise direction to end up at the bottom right corner.

Rochester's Past Futures: Safdie's RenSquare

Found this almost by chance.

Moshe Safdie RenSquare 2006

If you forgot what RenSquare was supposed to be this will remind you.
It may not have been perfect - the basic plan for project was badly conceived to begin with - but it sure would have had some beautifully designed interior spaces.
The pedestrian access to St. Paul Quarter along the spine of the project along with the well thought out green space on the bus shed's roof speak to the maturity and talent of Mr. Safdie's design.

The later versions of the complex by "The Associates" kept the basic layout but lost all of the class and humanity of the "too expensive" original design.

I am sure that the real problems with the cost of construction were a combination of a bad economy, higher overall costs for materials and labor AND the fact that the theater - one third of the entire project - did not have the needed funds to be completed.
And, five years later, we are still waiting to hear an update from RBTL on their fund drive for the theater, now planned for the Midtown Plaza site.

At least we are getting an overpriced bus shed that no one wants in its planned location!
Who says we never get anything built in Rochester?

Rochester's Past Futures: Habitat Rochester

Moshe Safdie is best known in Rochester for getting paid almost $3 million to design RenSquare back in the early 2000's. He was later dismissed and the plan he laid out was given to a group of local architecture firms who were then tasked to redesign the project in ways that would reduce costs.

RenSquare is history and we are now left facing the construction of the bus shed in the same basic layout as determined by the Safdie plan but without the "niceties" Safdie included in the original design, or the theater and downtown college campus.

This was not Safdie's first flirtation with building in Rochester. In July 1971 a group of local leaders were given a tour by a young Moshe Safdie of his early masterpiece, Habitat Montreal. Plans were being made for Habitats in Jerusalem and New York City and one for low income families was under way in Puerto Rico. If approved, Habitat Rochester would have been built by local activist organization FIGHT on the west side of the Genesee River in the city's 3rd Ward.