Once upon a time when I worked in downtown Rochester, I
could walk at lunchtime in any kinds of weather and not get wet. There used to be an extensive skyway
system. It was a walk that usually took
30-40 minutes and was a nice break away from work. Parts of the tunnel/skyway
system were a bit chilly, but the walk could be taken in all sorts of weather –
even snowstorms and high heat and humidity.
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| Bridge from Chase to Midtown |
I would leave my desk in Clinton Square, take the elevator
downstairs and then go out the back of the building into the Chase Tower. I then took the escalator in the Tower up to
the 2nd level. From there, I walked across the skyway bridge into
Midtown Plaza. After taking a loop of
the second level of Midtown, I walked out the back of Midtown and walked
through another series of skyway bridges.
I eventually ended that arm of the route at the Washington Square
garage. I turned back to retrace my
steps.
Just before entering Midtown Plaza again, there was another
skyway bridge that lead off towards Xerox (where Eric used to work). We walked to meet each other at lunchtime
several times over the years. From the
Xerox side of the skyway, there were also underground connections that lead
over to the Bausch & Lomb building and also to elevators that went up into
the Rundell library expansion.
After doing the B&L loop, I went back into Midtown and
back into the Chase Tower. Going down
into the Chase Concourse of Shops, there was a hallway off the back that lead
down underground and hooked up to the South Avenue parking garage. If you kept
going, the escalators lead to the skyway bridge that connected with the
Convention Center. You could walk
through the Convention Center and follow the skyway bridge into where it ended
at the Radisson Hotel. I would then loop
around the second floor of the hotel and turn back to retrace my steps back
into Chase Tower and back to work at Clinton Square.
I went out at lunchtime the other day, hoping to explore
some of the old walkways. I left the
Crossroads Building at the Four Corners and walked up Exchange to Court
Street. I went East on Court Street and
kept going past the Blue Cross Arena. I passed the Rundell library and the
Bausch & Lomb building. As I
approached Xerox, I could already see that things looked different. As I turned North on Chestnut Street and
approached the block where Midtown Plaza used to stand, I was devastated and stood
speechless looking at the barren lot where the old Plaza used to stand. I was so saddened that I couldn't even take pictures of the empty lot.
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| What Midtown Plaza used to look like from the back |
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| View of Midtown today |
It became very clear as I looked at what used to be the
heart of the skyway system and its connections that the skyway system as I knew
it is no more. The center of it has been
removed. I still (after all these years)
cannot believe that there wasn’t a way to keep Midtown Plaza open and preserve
it as a landmark of some sort. The City
was so hasty to tear it down and make way for Paetec and its corporate
headquarters. Paetec’s plans changed, of
course. “The new downtown headquarters
for PAETEC was to be part of a redevelopment plan, with the state of New York
using a 40 million dollar state grant to clear the Midtown site”. “With the economic recession of 2008–2009,
PAETEC scaled down their plans significantly, first to a much smaller new
building, and then to a simple re-use of the existing Seneca Building. With
PAETEC's acquisition by Windstream Communications, the new plan will involve
only two-thirds of the Seneca Building; the city is considering options for the
corner parcel on which the Tower would have been built”. How sad that the Mall
had to go for a project that fizzled and failed.
Here is an interesting article I found about the future of
the skyway system - http://www.rbj.net/print_article.asp?aID=192011.
The connection I mentioned to the B&L building and the Rundell library cost
$4 million to build, and now it likely gets limited use. According to the
author, the City planners believe that the street life is far more important
than the skyway system. I say “Boo!” to
you, Rochester planners. I believe that
there was a place for both indoor and outdoor connections. I also believe that
there was a place for a revitalized Midtown Plaza. Instead of raising rents and driving all the
shops and stores out of the plaza (does anyone remember when Wegmans used to
sit in the back corner?), you should have been trying to attract more and
better stores. Downtown used to be
something to behold, especially at Christmas time.
I did walk part of the old skyway system when I was out the
other day. I went into Clinton Square
and over into Chase Tower. You can’t
take the escalators up to the second floor anymore – they are blocked off since
there is no connection to Midtown Plaza now.
The lower level of Chase Tower is also horrifying. It’s all empty. All the old storefronts are still there advertising
a pizza shop, a restaurant/grill, a hair salon, and several others. They are
all vacant except for a barber shop.
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| Chase Concourse |
I
went over through the South Avenue garage into the Convention Center and to the
Radisson Hotel. Here is a photo of a
gingerbread version of the White House on display in the Convention
Center. This was the highlight of my
walk and the only reason for a smile or two.
You really can’t go “home” again. It makes you sad.
SOURCES:
http://www.playle.com/listing.php?i=SABASUSH1209&PHPSESSID=a
Which methons do you choose to search information for your fresh posts and which exact search networks do you generally use?
ReplyDeleteI usually just use Google. I search for background information to support an idea I had or a memory that popped into my head or to add to a photo I've taken. Based upon what I find in Google, I drill down and follow leads to see what I can uncover. It doesn't always lead to anything good. Usually I can find old websites or blogs or photos to help me create a post.
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