It's looking more likely that if it can raise enough money, the Rochester Broadway Theatre League will build a new theater rather than remaining at the Auditorium Theatre. A city-commissioned study seems to indicate that it would cost more to renovate the Auditorium than to build a new theater.

And if there is a new theater, Mayor Bob Duffy wants it to be located in Rochester.

Duffy, who had urged RBTL to stay at the Auditorium, said in an interview Tuesday that a city-commissioned study indicates that renovations would range "from over $50 million to under $100 million." Duffy, who hasn't released the study, wouldn't go so far as to join RBTL officials in ruling out the possibility of renovations, but it sounded as if he's leaning that way. "Quite a large investment would be needed," he said. He said he now wants to know how much it would cost to build a new theater.

Duffy said the study, done by the Pike Company, wasn't a full-blown analysis of the Auditorium and RBTL's needs. That, he said, would have cost $150,000. He said he'll be releasing the Pike study later.

Last week, Duffy had sent a letter to RBTL, asking that the former McCurdy's property at Midtown be added to the list of sites RBTL is considering for a new theater. "The city passionately desires that Broadway-style shows remain in the city," Duffy wrote.

RBTL officials responded immediately, inviting the city to make a presentation to its site-selection committee.

Duffy's letter to RBTL spells out the advantages, "symbolically and practically," of the Midtown site, including its proximity to restaurants and clubs, the Midtown parking garage, and access ramps, but he added qualifiers: "if new construction proves to be the most cost effective option" and if RBTL "can successfully raise the funds needed."

"If there was going to be a new theater built, I certainly would want downtown Rochester to have a site to offer in that venue," Duffy said in an interview late last week. "I don't think the challenges of finance have changed over the last six months, so I think it's a huge lift, but I wanted to offer a site."

Arnie Rothschild, chair of RBTL's board, has repeatedly said that his preference is to have a performing arts center downtown. But RBTL has to do what's in its own best interest, he said last week, and some of the suburban proposals are attractive.

The RBTL site-selection committee heard the last of five suburban proposals on Monday. The committee will begin reviewing the presentations and narrowing the list in early December.

The mayor's primary concern is where RBTL will get the funding to build a theater. Money was Duffy's key concern regarding Renaissance Square's theater, as well.

Another of Duffy's concerns: Who will own the theater?

If RBTL decides to build at Midtown, Duffy says he'll work with the group and with County Executive Maggie Brooks to move the project forward. That includes lobbying for funding, he said. The Brooks-Duffy combination would certainly give Midtown a competitive advantage over the suburban contenders. Duffy said he has already discussed the issue with Brooks.

"If we decide ‘Here's where we're going to go,' we're going to move ahead with unity of purpose," Duffy said.

In each of the suburban proposals, there would be "significant developer participation," Rothschild said last week. He wouldn't give specifics, but said RBTL would be looking for help with things like site preparation, construction, and maintenance.

On Friday, Rothschild said that the city won't be required to present details on theater design, ownership, or finance. What RBTL needs to hear in the city's presentation, he said, is that the city's interest is "real" - what their process and timeline is and what the city would do to help raise the money.

"What we want," Rothschild says, "is something very serious, 'Here's how we can get it accomplished.'"

With all of the proposals, he says, he wants officials involved and "pulling together" to make the project a reality.

RBTL officials' problems with the Auditorium include everything from seating capacity and cramped dressing rooms to lack of lobby space, lack of air conditioning, and elevators.