What is Renaissance Square?
Renaissance Square is a proposed construction project in downtown Rochester. It would redevelop the area on the north side of East Main Street between Clinton Avenue, St. Paul Street and Pleasant Street. As currently planned, Renaissance Square would consist of a new transit center, a new downtown campus for Monroe Community College and a new performing arts center. The block where this redevelopment would take place is one of the most under-utilized and unsightly in the downtown area.
What are the benefits to the community of Renaissance Square?
Renaissance Square will act as a catalyst to private development downtown. It will encourage more middle and upper income residential development in the heart of the city. Renaissance Square will create jobs during the construction phase and upon completion. It will provide a full-service downtown campus for MCC, similar to the school’s campus in Brighton. This mixed use, transit oriented project will relocate bus boarding, disembarking and transfers to a climate controlled facility off of Main Street. The transit center will provide a comfortable, safe and convenient place for RTS and NY Trailways customers to make their connections. Renaissance Square will also house a 2800 seat theater that will accommodate popular Broadway shows touring the country as well as offer performance space for local productions which frequently sell out the house.
When will it be built?
The project is moving forward through the preliminary design phase. On April, 24, 2008, 4 design concepts were presented to the public for comment. The preferred preliminary design concept or concepts will be presented to the public on May 20, 2008. Once the preliminary design concept is approved by the Project Partners, Renaissance Square will proceed to final design. Demolition of existing property could begin in the middle of 2009. If all necessary steps in the process proceed as planned, Renaissance Square could be completed in 2012.
Who will pay for it?
Main & Clinton Local Development Corp. has capped the budget at $230 million. Monroe County has pledged that property taxes will not be increased to pay for the project. To go forward, Renaissance Square must be affordable without any additional property tax burden on local citizens. About $175 million in federal and state grants have already been identified. The Project Partners have all agreed that, provided an acceptable project can be achieved within the $230 million budget, they will work together to identify and secure sufficient funds to construct the Project.
Is the deadline for using some of those funds going to expire before work begins?
Nearly all members of our local delegation in Congress have pledged to work with the Project Partners to get extensions of any such deadlines. We are confident this will be accomplished.
Who is working on the project?
The Project is being overseen by Main & Clinton Local Development Corp., which is made up of representatives of Monroe County, The City of Rochester, Monroe Community College and Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority. (Those entities are called the Project Partners.) The manager for the preliminary design phase of the project is LeChase Construction Services. Several other local contractors are working with LeChase. A consortium of local architects called “The Associates” has been formed to complete the preliminary design. The Associates is composed of four highly experienced local architectural firms – SWBR Architects, LaBella Associates, DeWolff Partnership Architects and Bergmann and Associates.
Will there be opportunities for the public to participate?
Yes. Workshops will be held on May 20, 2008 and June 12, 2008 to give the public more opportunities to comment on the preliminary design, before it moves to the final design phase. More public workshops will be held as the final design phase progresses. Presentations have already been made to community groups and those will continue. Meetings of Main & Clinton Local Development Corp., which is overseeing the project, are open to the public. We depend on local media to publicize upcoming meetings and workshops. The public can also review the design concepts presented at public workshops and provide comments at the project website, www.renaissancesquare.net.
What are some of the unanswered questions?
What will Renaissance Square look like? Where will remaining capital funding come from? How much will it cost to operate? Who will own and operate the Performing Arts Center? Should we move to final design? These can be more accurately answered when preliminary design is completed.
Will the Mortimer Street Parking Garage be retained?
Yes.
Could there be more than one theater to accommodate smaller performing arts groups?
Due to the decision to retain Mortimer Street Garage, the proposed Project site does not have space to accommodate theaters in addition to the one, large 2800 seat theater. It is anticipated that organizations, such as the Convention Center, smaller theater groups and MCC’s performing arts classes, needing less than 2800 seats but more than are available at other community theater venues will use the Performing Arts Center.
Will the theater require an operating subsidy?
Yes, just like every other community theater in the U.S. But that won’t come from property taxes. The Project Partners have all agreed that, provided an acceptable project can be achieved within the $230 million budget, they will work together to identify a source of funding for the ongoing operation and maintenance of the Project, including the theater.
Have other communities had success with similar projects?
Yes. Two are in Dayton, OH and Waterbury, CT. We continue to study both models and consult with their owners and operators.
Shouldn’t the transit center be combined with the train station?
That suggestion has been studied extensively and the determination has been that combining the two facilities is not practical for our city. Because of the way the street grid in Rochester is laid out, buses need to converge at or near the intersection of Main Street and Clinton Avenue/St. Paul Street in order to avoid unacceptable traffic congestion while still permitting efficient transfers to occur between in-bound and out-bound bus customers. Moving the train station to or near the intersection of Main Street and Clinton Avenue/St. Paul Street is not practical for a number of reasons, including the cost of such an undertaking and the negative impact railroad tracks coming into the center of downtown would have on traffic patterns, pedestrian traffic, accessibility of businesses and safety.
Will there be a place to buy a bus pass in the downtown area once Midtown is closed?
Yes. RTS will have a facility to sell bus passes near the intersection of Main Street and Clinton Avenue. The exact location is still being finalized.
What will happen with the skyways?
The Project will connect to the skyway system.
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