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City Council has passed two pieces of legislation for projects in downtown Rochester.
The Council authorized the issuance of $625,000 in bonds for the construction of upgrades to the Parcel 5 greenspace and event venue. It also approved the dedication of a city-owned East Main Street property to become a pedestrian-only public plaza.
Parcel 5 was created after Midtown Plaza closed in 2008 and the site was cleared a few years later. Proposals dating back as far as 2016 called for turning the space into mixed-use developments, condos, or a performing arts center, but none moved forward. Two years ago, Mayor Malik Evans declared Parcel 5 a permanent greenspace.
The site has become a destination for special events such as Rochester International Jazz Festival concerts and Puerto Rican Day festivities; next month, it will be one of over 45 venues for the Rochester Fringe Festival.
The bonds will help pay for additional improvements to the site for continued use as a public event venue. Initial plans for the area include power points along Andrew Langston Way and Cortland Street; a power panel to support event staging and power needs; security cameras; Wi-Fi infrastructure; and ground hydrants for lawn irrigation, event use, and maintenance.
Future improvements are less firm, but could include a permanent event storage facility, increased access for event setup, a digital events marquee, a permanent fence on portions of the site, and an off-leash dog run on an adjacent parcel.
City Council authorized the issuance of the bonds in a near-unanimous vote; only Councilmember Mary Lupien broke with her colleagues. In a statement made before councilmembers cast their votes, Lupien voiced her opposition to the inclusion of eight surveillance cameras in initial plans for Parcel 5’s improvement, as well as the potential construction of a permanent fence along portions of the site in future renovations.
“I think we’re all aware of the danger of oversurveilling our population in terms of what’s going on with the federal government and really the world, and the number of cameras that are proposed for the park is alarming to me,” said Lupien. “I also realize the fence is not in this phase, but I want to go on the record as I oppose any barrier for people to enter the park.”
Lupien’s usual allies, Councilmembers Stanley Martin and Chiara Smith, voted in favor of the legislation without comment made during discussion.
The Council also approved the dedication of a city-owned parcel at 170-172 E. Main St., two blocks from Parcel 5, as a “right-of-way,” designating it for pedestrian use and related amenities as part of the city’s Main Street Commons development project.
In 2021, Rochester applied for, and was eventually awarded, a $10 million grant from the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative, which seeks to “(transform) downtown neighborhoods into vibrant centers that offer a high quality of life and are magnets for redevelopment, business, job creation, and economic and housing diversity.”
Of the $10 million awarded by the state to Rochester, $1.3 million is designated for the design and construction of Main Street Commons.
The commons will replace a vacant storefront with a pedestrian-only public plaza and event space. Demolition of the vacant storefront is set to be completed in 2027, with plaza construction scheduled for 2028.
Both projects are tied to the Rochester 2034 comprehensive plan, a 15-year plan adopted by the city in 2019 outlining goals for the city’s growth and development. Main Street Commons also is part of a larger revitalization plan for East Main Street, which also includes redevelopment or rehabilitation of several buildings.
David Wazana is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and a member of the Oasis Project’s second cohort.
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