About
MIDTOWN PLAZA 1962-2008East Main and South Clinton Streets
Rochester, New York
Plans for the nation's first center city shopping mall got underway in late 1956, when Gilbert J.C. McCurdy and Maurice R. Forman -two Rochester retailers- met with Victor Gruen to discuss a concept they had devised to attempt to save their downtown department stores from the ravages of suburbanization.
The Austrian architect's proposal was submitted to McCurdy and Forman in September 1958 and was enthusiastically received. Following clandestine land acquistions and City Council approval of the project, demolition work began in April 1959.
The completed, 35 million dollar MIDTOWN PLAZA was dedicated April 10, 1962. The complex occupied an 8.6 acre site in Rochester's downtown core, which had previously been city blocks and Cortland Street.These were replaced by a 3-level (1,800 space) subterranean parking garage and 2-level (220,000 square foot), enclosed shopping mall, which was topped off by an 8-level office tower and 3-level (78 room) hotel. The new-style center also included a multi-modal bus terminal and supermarket.
This forerunner of mixed-use retail / office projects garnered much media coverage and served as a model for subsequent urban renewal projects across the United States.
Renovation/additions were completed in the 1970s and '80s, with the PLAZA being incorporated into an above-street-level Skyway network, eventually connecting it with several office buildings. Unfortunately, the shift of downtown commerce to the suburbs -which MIDTOWN PLAZA had been created to curtail- had continued unabated.
The shuttering of its anchor stores -McCurdy's and Forman's- in 1994 created vacancies that were difficult to fill. Eventually, Lawrenceville, Virginia-based Peebles leased the the first floor of the former Forman's, with the remainder of the building -and the entirety of the old McCurdy's- being renovated into office space.
MIDTOWN PLAZA languished as a dead mall for the remainder of the 1990s. As the 21st century rolled around, various plans to demolish and / or "redevelop" the struggling center were put forward, gaining momentum in 2006.
The present scenario has the City of Rochester spending 14 million dollars to purchase the property and relocate its forty-five remaining tenants. After the center is completely shuttered at the end of 2008, its demolition will commence in June 2009.
MOURNING MIDTOWN
With numerous city and state politicians jumping on the mow down Midtown Mall bandwagon, it wasn't long before a final, concrete plan for its demolition was announced.
79 million dollars in public funds will be used to demolish the historic, mid-20th century landmark. It needs to be taken out of the way so that a private company -the Perinton, New York-based PAETEC Holding Corporation- can build its shiny, new 500,000 square foot World Headquarters. The remaining land, we are told, will be sold off for development as residential, retail and office space.
It's the same old song and dance we so often hear. The structure has passed its prime. However, we never seem to hear that there is lots of public money to move around...and lots of hands grabbing for a piece of the pie.
Could the 79 million dollars being used to destroy MIDTOWN PLAZA have been used to demolish some of the structure and renovate the more interesting parts? I don't know if anyone even bothered to consider this......
Putting forth a piece of personal philosophy, I feel that at least SOME of this historic structure should be retained and renovated for posterity. Here we have one of the few nearly pristine examples of (rapidly-vanishing) Mid-Century Modern/Internationalist-Style architecture, which has not been smeared over with glitzy renovations over the years.
*Mall Hall of Fame blog by the web master:"Mall Hall Of Fame Curator"
