Little House in the City

This article was scraped from Rochester Subway. This is a blog about Rochester history and urbanism has not been published since 2017. The current owners are now publishing link spam which made me want to preserve this history.. The original article was published January 25, 2015 and can be found here.

     By       Mike Governale

Tucked away in     a remote corner

of downtown, facing the back side of the Geva Theatre and surrounded on all sides by parking lots, stands this unassuming brick house. In downtown Rochester there are several lonely buildings like this one, still hanging on long after its neighbors have all been read their last rites.

I admire old little structures like this. Maybe it doesn't have a glamourous story to tell. But it's stuck it out for the last 150+ years - from Rochester's boom, all the way through the toughest times this rusty city could throw at it. Whenever I've visited Geva Theatre I've taken notice of this one and wondered if it would find new life...

   But in this town it seems there's no winning. No point at which a place like this is safe from the encroaching asphalt tide. A developer has asked the City to allow him to demolish this one holdout. He wants to clear it to make room for a few more parking spaces for his nearby properties, including     these new Geva lofts

.

   Rochesterians have fought the wrecking ball several times in recent years - mostly in vain. I suspect there'll be no fight this time though. No petitions, no headlines, no big debates at City Hall.

This building is not protected by any historic registry--and probably not even eligible for listing. It's had an ugly addition mashed onto the front, and it's missing much of its interior, its windows, and trim.

   What's more, the developer, Patrick Dutton, has worked to rehabilitate many older buildings in Rochester; including     1 Capron

and most recently the former RIT     Bevier Building

. I was unable to reach Patrick this weekend for comment. But certainly anyone with his track record has earned the benefit of the doubt from the local preservationist community - myself included.

Of course none of these things mean this house couldn't be spared, cleaned up, and restored to some degree. Being the last remaining house like it in downtown's Washington Square Park Neighborhood should be worth something, I would think.

   I could see the grounds being landscaped and turned into a corner pocket park. The house could even be converted into something like a sandwich & ice cream shop with some outdoor seating for the new loft residents and theater-goers.

   Alas, winter's grip tightens over this place and its days are numbered. But for now it stands here, inviting me to think about what this     neighborhood

was once like - and what downtown could be again. For that I thank you, little house.