Landmark Status In Cobbs Hill Park
UMNA in coalition with other nearby neighborhood groups & other partners is working with City government to explore expanding the landmark site status to all of Cobbs Hill Park.
FYI
Cobbs Hill Park contains certain limited areas are officially recognized by the City of Rochester as "landmark" sites. Developments in those areas are subject to the review and approval of the Rochester Preservation Board.
How our interest in this topic got started
The UMNA Local History Nerds got started on this topic late in January, 2024 when neighbors were notified the City of Rochester intended to construct two new pavilions in Cobbs Hill Park. According to information provided to neighbors the Rochester Preservation Board (RPB) would have to review and approve ONE of the two pavilions before it could be constructed. Yes, you read that right, ONE pavilion but not the other. Really?
The pavilion requiring review was to be placed SOUTH of Norris Drive behind the playground, adjacent to a parking lot commonly used for those playing tennis at the far western end of the park near Monroe Avenue. The pavilion that did NOT require RPB approval was to be placed NORTH of Norris Drive adjacent to the parking lot just east of the Lake Riley Lodge.
Click here to see more information about the proposal to build pavilions in Cobbs Hill Park.
So...
A couple of neighbors reached out to the City. They asked probing questions around why one pavilion required approval and the other didn't. The responses they got from City reps were, frankly, contradictory. One of the neighbors reached out to Megan Klem, Director of Preservation Services for The Landmark Society of Western New York for answers.
It turns out the areas recognized as being associated with landmark sites in Cobbs Hill Park had been amended (reduced) in 1972. Here's what Megan Klem wrote:
"Attached you will find the 1972 decision to remove the parcels north of Norris Drive and east of the Water Authority properties from the landmark designation. Basically, this happened because of a technicality in what the definition of a landmark site was in the code at that time." ( Emphasis added.)
Megan included a copy of the 1972 map with the revised boundary lines and the document signed by Mayor Thomas P. Ryan from that time that amended the designated areas covered by Cobbs Hill Park landmark sites. See below.
UMNA Local History Nerds have sooooo many questions
What were the original boundaries?
What about the Erie Canal Eastern Wide Waters (Lake Riley)?
What about the Culver Road Armory?
What about Washington Grove?
What about the "Portage Trail"
Did the Rochester Preservation Board review and approve the redevelopment of Cobbs Hill Village? How could a new multi-tower apartment complex be considered historically appropriate?
Stop back to check on our progress.
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