RBA, Ren Square Partners Talk Theater

By Bud Lowell

Rochester, NY – Rochester Business Alliance officials met Wednesday morning with Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks and Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy. They talked about raising funds for the theater portion of the Renaissance Square project, and how to cover the theater's annual operating costs once it's built.

Brooks says it was to show Rochester's business community where the Ren Square partners stand on raising what she says is the 30-million dollars needed to move ahead on building the 230-million dollar project.

The RBA issued a statement saying members of its executive committee gave their advice on how to move forward with private fundraising for Ren Square. It also says the RBA will research what it calls "specific questions" about the project's long-term operational funding.

An RBA spokeswoman declined further comment and said the statement would speak for itself.

Brooks says she understands the RBA is concerned at how much of a subsidy the theater will need and where the money will come from. She says those questions need to be answered by the end of the year before actual design work on Ren Square can begin.
T
he Business Alliance hasn't determined an official position on Renaissance Square yet. Its executive committee has said the project needs to be evaluated on whether it can be supported in the long term without draining taxpayers and community resources any further.

The Renaissance Square developers have 175-million dollars in state, federal and local government money committed to the downtown project. That will pay for about two-thirds of the project, which is supposed to include a new downtown transit station, a new downtown campus for Monroe Community College and a new downtown theater. The developers need to raise about 30-million dollars more in private funding for the theater, and they need to figure out how to cover the block-long project's operating costs.

Renaissance Square is to be built at the corner of Main and Clinton in downtown Rochester, replacing the old storefronts on the north side of Main Street from Clinton to the Sibley Building.