TOWLER: Ren Square's dance of death

August 4, 2009 at 5:10pm

Looks like everybody's mad at everybody, yes?

Ren Square died, at last, this morning, but not without a final, bizarre twist. County Exec Maggie Brooks, transit authority chief Mark Aesh, Mayor Bob Duffy, and City Council member Dana�Miller�got together one more time yesterday. And they seemed to have revived their patient with yet another compromise on the size of the bus station and the future of the theater. Duffy and Miller said they would take that proposal to City Council, whose approval it would need. And that they did, yesterday afternoon.

After two and a half hours, some Council members couldn't make up their minds and asked to be able to think about it overnight. Duffy then tried to reach Brooks to update her. She didn't answer her phone, so he left a message: Council wanted the night to sleep on it; Miller would poll Council members this morning.

And this morning, while Miller was contacting Council members, Brooks and Aesch held a press conference and announced that Ren Square was dead. They weren't waiting any longer for Council.

Duffy and Council got the news from reporters.

Brooks and Aesch apparently ran out of patience. Would they have gotten what they wanted if they'd held on one more day? For the past few weeks, Council had been united in opposition, but Council member Elaine Spaull says that by the end of yesterday's meeting, "we were no longer unanimous."

Some Council members were comfortable enough with the compromise that they were ready to support it, Spaull says. Maybe a majority would have voted for it.

That's moot now. What isn't moot is the ramped-up hostility between the city and the county. When the county executive declines to return a phone call from the mayor - and holds a press conference to proclaim the death of Ren Square before talking to the� mayor - things are at a boil.

I'm not sure what to make of the final Ren Square drama. I think both sides wanted to find a way to make the thing work - and get the federal funds. City Hall rumors to the contrary, I don't think Brooks and Aesch were looking for a way to let the project die and let the city take the blame. If that were the case, they wouldn't have gotten together with Duffy and Miller yesterday.

There probably will be plenty of finger pointing. But my hunch is that it'll all be inside-politics stuff. If Brooks and Aesch believe the public will be upset with Duffy and City Council, I suspect they're in for a surprise. For good or for ill, the public lost enthusiasm for the project long ago.

Will this be an issue in the County Legislature race this fall? "Those bad old Democrats turned down millions of federal dollars and cost the community thousands of jobs"? I dunno. The millions of federal dollars were pork, after all. And Republicans don't like pork.

Comments for "TOWLER: Ren Square's dance of death" (2)

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Harry Davis said on Aug. 04, 2009 at 10:31pm

I am NOT happy. I remember the RKO Theatre. I remember my Father taking me to Midtown Plaza to see Duke Ellington play beneath the clock. I remember a REAL transit system in Rochester that included a subway as well as the Lehigh Railroad. I remember the beautiful train station that reminds us of Grand Central Station in New York City. Let's restore Rochester to the great city she once was.

carlene woodward said on Aug. 05, 2009 at 1:56am

20 or 30 million? The money was borrowed from the GVFTA and other road projects. How much does the project (the County & the RGRTA ) really owe? Where is the accounting that City Council and the Mayor asked for? They were told to file a Freedom of Information Request. So much for sharing the information with the taxpayer. The truth is the City was shut out of the process throughout the ten grueling years.

Main and Clinton Development Corp was stacked with 4 Republicans to one Dem, the Mayor and when he raised concerns and objections, he was ignored and overruled. So let's get the facts straight. The first plan= 4.5 mil, had an underground bus station, three theaters, a parking garage, a high rise office building (when we had a 41% vacancy rate) housing, and NO MCC. Safdie Design= 8,9 mil, had an above ground bus station, MCC, a 2,800 seat theater and not one single parking spot. Magie & RGRTA blew up that plan. Current plan, MCC, no money to build theater & an ugly station we didn't want !
8/5/2009 1:42:56 AM

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