Day 4, Parcel 5, "Let's Play Two"

the Clock of Nations by Geri Kavanaugh, the centerpiece of the now demolished Midtown Plaza, Rochester

Until we arrived in Rochester, the fourth day of our trip consisted of 3.5 hours on the New York State Thruway. Oh, and breakfast at the Latham '76 Diner, where the waitstaff argued over who would get to serve us.

Upon arrival, we quickly checked out Sleeping Bears, a mural by ROA that is part of WALL\THERAPY, and the High Falls. Parking near the Pont de Rennes—Reindeer Bridge, but in French? Maybe they should have stuck with "former Platt Street bridge."— we chatted briefly with a couple who turned out later to be the people joining us for the Rochester Red Wings day game.

Could the game time temperature really only have been 93°? Our seats were so hot that we had to retreat into the shade and Rohrbach beer. There was no shade for the outfielders, who struggled. The lead went back-and-forth but the birds held off the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 8-7.

Melvin's colleague and the colleague's lady friend were good company, by which I mean, it's not every day that you meet folks who want to walk around an undeveloped urban renewal site.

Parcel 5 and friends

The Midtown Urban Renewal District is the site of the former Midtown Plaza, the first (1962) urban indoor mall. Designed by Victor Gruen, the Austrian-born architect best known as a pioneer in the design of shopping malls, Midtown Plaza won several awards and Gruen remained fond of the project even late in life, when he disavowed most malls as bastardizations of his ideas.

Midtown Urban Renewal District, Rochester

The assemblage of buildings was anchored by two department stores and a supermarket and was topped by an 18-story office building. Fifty-eight years after it opened, the Empire State Development Corporation issued a request for proposals to demolish six buildings and part of three others.

The office tower has been converted to apartments and in April 2017, Rochester Mayor Lovely A. Warren announced that Parcel 5 would be developed as the Golisano Center for the Performing Arts. Construction was to begin this year but hasn't, fueling skepticism about the viability of the project.

Then, just like this blog post, Melvin and I realized we really had to be on our way to the Batavia Muckdogs game. Again we moved in search of shade, the temperature now 95°. The West Virginia Black Bears tied the game, 4-4, in the top of the ninth.

In the bottom of the frame, a single and a wild pitch put a Muckdoggie in scoring position. Kieran Mattison, the ursine manager, had his pitcher walk the next two batters. That was when Brayan Hernandez made the only home run of his professional career (to date) a salami. Game over, big time.

lobby falls

Our hotel had a waterfall in the lobby and an in-house water park. Strangest of all, the only window in our room looked out on "Monsoon Lagoon" and "Paradise Bay." Is this where pedophiles vacation? We quickly re-closed the curtains and had supper at the Eli Fish Brewing Company.