Months after officials at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School announced plans to sell the picturesque 24-acre campus to Top Capital of New York, there’s a push to turn the site a city landmark. The matter is expected to go before a joint hearing of the city’s Preservation and Planning boards on Wednesday, July 19, at 6:30 p.m. in City Council chambers.
The proposal’s backers say the campus may be the most significant non-designated landmark in the city. The five original buildings were designed by James Gamble Rogers, architect of many of Yale University’s buildings. And the grounds are the work of landscape architect Alling DeForest, who designed the Eastman Museum gardens. The expansive, open hillside and proximity to Highland Park heightens the appeal.
Though no plans have been submitted to the city, Top Capital officials have talked about investing about $36 million in the property. They envision converting the main building into a hotel and adding a new building near the southeast corner of South Goodman Street and Highland Avenue. The divinity school would lease space in the new building.
Some residents near Highland Park are clearly worried about the campus’s future. Marie Via, who submitted the application for landmark status, says she opposes constructing a new building near the Highland-Goodman Street intersection. Via said she wouldn’t object to a new building at the top of the hill, with the other buildings. “It’s really the protection of that park-like green space that’s the real concern,” she said.
The landmark designation wouldn’t mean that the owners couldn’t build on the site, says Cynthia Howk, architectural research coordinator for the Landmark Society of Western New York. But any changes to the exterior of the current buildings and the grounds, and any new construction would be subject to approval by the Preservation Board, she says.
This article appears in Jun 21-27, 2017.
Excellent! I am a neighbor and I support this wholeheartedly!
One of Rochester’s unique spaces, would hate to see it covered over with generic office buildings and parking lots.
I’ve been working at Colgate for over 6 years & I would love to see this happen. The interior is simply beautiful & so are the grounds. Working as a banquet server for the weddings has been a real pleasure for me & all our guests. Please make this happen
Hotel like business in this historic, pastoral part of our city is anathema to its nature. If it must be commerce let it be condo or apartment property where
people can live in harmony with the park and the owners can make money and the city gain revenue. A hotel and the ness around amenities tha go with it give visitors priority over neighbors and property owners. For once, THINK locally. We have had museum areas, ferrys, and urban rescue programs that favor capital investment over realistic long term proects that sustain themselves because they become integrated into the existing history of the area.