City Council’s chambers needs better fans. With the room
jam-packed with people Thursday night, things in the back got warm really quick
— God bless the people who clung to their suits, sweaters, and jackets
throughout the public forum.
At a City Council public forum, almost 70 people, across more
than two hours, spoke about their opposition to, concerns about, or support of
the current proposal to develop Parcel 5 at Midtown. Sometime within the next
few months, Mayor Lovely Warren will ask Council consider selling the parcel to
the Rochester Broadway Theatre League and Morgan Communities to develop a 2,850-seat
theater and a 150-apartment building.
Thursday’s speakers were overwhelmingly opposed to the
development. Supporters of turning the parcel into a green space — a lot of
them decked out in green, “Free Parcel 5” shirts — leaders in the arts
community, business owners, mayoral and City Council candidates, and just
regular city residents spoke about their concerns: with how the mayor chose the
RBTL-Morgan proposal, the push for an immediate decision, or how a new RBTL
theater would impact Rochester’s arts scene.
Interestingly, most of the people who supported the proposal
were either employed by RBTL or closely connected to it. Exceptions to that included
Hyatt Regency Hotel’s general manager and a local restaurateur, and a
representative from Buffalo’s Shea’s Performing Arts
Center.
Mayoral candidates Rachel Barnhart and Jim Sheppard called
for better transparency in the process — Green Party candidate Alex White and
City Council candidates Shawn Dunwoody, Tom Hasman,
and Mary Lupien were also in attendance. John
Bernunzio, owner for Bernunzio Uptown Music, spoke out about the need for long-term
planning that promoted a walkable downtown.
Representatives of Rochester arts organizations — including
Downstairs Cabaret Theatre, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and Garth
Fagan Dance — called for better city support of the arts and the need for an
impact study on how the development would affect the arts and cultural
community.
But the most note-worthy part about this: between those
organizations and names with some vested interest were average Rochesterians who just want a community space.
Mayor Warren likely won’t forward legislation to City Council
legislation for a vote until late fall, if then. And selling Parcel 5 will
require support by seven of the nine Council members, many of whom are already
opposed to it. Between now and then, RBTL and Morgan will be completing their
formal proposals, the state will be considering helping finance the theater,
and RBTL will be raising private donations. Candidates in the fall elections
will be raising the issue. And activists will be speaking out.
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This article appears in Aug 9-15, 2017.
In reading and re-reading this article and the accompanying one in City, I realized that there were two significant items that bothered me.
1- The apparent low level of interest of Rochester residents. Once you take away the vested interests (RBTL and Geva factions) and subtract a few for suburbanites that were interested, how many “regular folks” does that leave, 30-50? that s less than most suburban school board meetings have attend. Given the financial risks to Rochester, and its poor track record of having projects work out financially, it is very surprising.
2- The second thing is how the press (both City and the D&C) have thus far failed its readers by providing no real analysis of the projections. For instance, there are three main revenue streams; Broadway plays, other events, and parking. Does the growth in attendance fit with history, or are they hockey stick type graphs? Is there sufficient demand in Rochester for 50 additional events without significantly impacting Eastman, Geva, or Blue Cross? And it would seem that the RBTL’s parking gain might be coming at the expense of the companies that provide parking at today’s theatre. The answers to all of these questions, and more, may be positive. However, when you do not have anyone looking at the numbers with an independent eye, and instead focusing only on the politics, you are not likely to get realistic answers.