REN SQUARE: Facade design chosen

By Jeremy Moule on June 12, 2008

A final concept has been chosen for Renaissance Square's façade. Now, it's up to the project's board to approve it.

The plan is a synthesis of three earlier concepts presented to the public. The glass-fronted theater entrance at the Main and Clinton intersection will be sloped, not rounded. Materials on the rest of the exterior will complement the Sibley and Granite buildings that neighbor the project, says Jim Durfee, the project's lead architect.

The majority of the retail space lines Main Street and will include shop fronts with their own entrances. Awnings will line Main Street.

"We tried to put as much as we possibly could on Main Street," Durfee said at a public workshop Thursday night. There's also a street-level entrance for the Monroe Community College campus.

Project officials say the design can be built for $230 million, the amount County Executive Maggie Brooks says is the maximum figure.

The Main and Clinton Development Corporation, which oversees the project, will meet at 8:30 a.m., on Tuesday, June 17, at the Hyatt Regency to vote on the plan.