Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said this evening that the city now has in hand two proposals…one for a performing arts center and the other for a performing arts center and casino on the Midtown site.
The mayor’s office says the proposals are for Midtown Parcel Five, the last vacant piece of the former Midtown Plaza site that sits above the underground Garage.
One comes from the Seneca Nation of Indians, which wants to develop the theater and gaming facility; the other is from what the city describes as “a consortium of casino operators and other possible yet-to-be-identified investors.” They would partially fund a stand-alone performing arts center.
Mayor Warren says a performing arts center at Midtown would be a game changer for downtown. Coupled with gaming she says it has vast job-creating potential.
The draft proposals are on the city web site. The mayor says she looks forward to hearing details from the developers.
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The Rochester City School Board has decided on a finalist for the superintendent’s job.
Board President Van White says contract negotiations are in progress with a man who has been a superintendent elsewhere.
He says people will be impressed when the announcement is made, which could be this week.
White says conducting the search in private, although it was controversial, appears to have helped bring in a better crop of candidates.
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New York’s Inspector General has released a scathing report on last year’s escape from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora.
Katherine Leahy Scott says chronic complacency and systematic security failures led to the escape of murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat a year ago.
The report also claims there were failures by officers assigned to the front gate to search employee’s bags….and night counts of inmates were conducted poorly or not at all. Two employees were charged with aiding the escape by smuggling tools into the prison.
Killers Richard Matt and David Sweat were on the run for three weeks last June after escaping. Matt was killed by police and Sweat was recaptured.
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Rochester Police have identified the victim of a Saturday shooting as 41-year-old Theo McCullough of Rochester.
He remains in Strong Memorial Hospital after being seriously injured by a shot to the upper body on Sherman Street.
Police say his condition hasn’t changed and there are no suspects in custody yet.
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Be prepared for some changes tomorrow morning on the Inner Loop Bridge over the Genesee River near State Street.
The State Transportation Department says Phase 4 of the project begins tomorrow (Tues). That means the eastbound lanes of the loop will reopen, including the on-ramp from State Street to the loop. But now the westbound lanes will be restricted to one…and the exit ramp from the Loop to State Street closes. The entrance ramp from St. Paul Street to the loop stays closed.
This will be the rule for about a month until the middle of July when all the lanes and ramps will reopen. There will be temporary lane closings while they put on the finishing touches until November.
They’re replacing the entire pavement on the bridge and repairing the steelwork and concrete.