Proposed Shelters at Cobbs Hill Park

The City of Rochester intends to build two new “shelters” in Cobbs Hill Park. One shelter would be located adjacent to the parking lot just east of the Lake Riley Lodge. The second shelter would be built adjacent to the parking lot on the other side of Norris Drive up the hill behind the basketball courts, ball field and playground nearer the tennis courts. Both shelters would be built entirely with colored metal components on a concrete pad.

The later shelters happens to fall in a designated preservation area associated with the Cobbs Hill Park & the former Eastern Widewaters of the Erie Canal. As a result, the proposal associated with that shelter must be approved by the Rochester Preservation Board (RPB).

The RPB will hold a public hearing on the matter on February 14, 2024 at 6:00 PM in City Council Chambers, Room 302A after which it will review the application. A sign notifying the public of such is posted at this site. Your input at this meeting is strongly encouraged.

Although the proposed shelter located near the Lake Riley Lodge is proximate to the "Cobbs Hill Park and Eastern Widewaters" designated area the site is not included within the protected district boundaries and so does not require review by the RPB.*

The Upper Monroe Neighborhood Association strongly encourages all interested parties to find out more about the proposed new shelters in Cobbs Hill Park and voice your opinion.

Click here to go to the Rochester Preservation Board (RPB) webpage

Click here to learn more about the Rochester Preservation Districts

UMNA's comments on the application & related topics

In addition to the above letter UMNA also reached out to members of Rochester City Council for support:

Cobbs Hill Preservation District Boundary (revised in 1972)

Excerpt from an email dated February 1, 2024 sent by Megan Klem, Director of Preservation Services, The Landmark Society of Western New York:

"Basically, this happened because of a technicality in what the definition of a landmark site was in the code at that time."

LEARN MORE: The Backstory: Two Pavilions, Two Standards