Stop Defacing Rochester!

The 1879 P.F. Johnson building remains in limbo. All of it tenants having been kicked out late last year, the building was put on the market and finally sold for $875,000 to one Jan Daly. Daly had gathered support from 28 area arts organizations for a plan to either raze or convert the building for a multi-use arts and performing arts center. The problem is, it turned out that her support was strictly moral and not financial. Yesterday, Daly appeared before the City Council and requested $10 million to fund the project. She claims that without the city essentially taking ownership of the project, she can afford only a few months of mortgage payments and will have to put the building back on the market within six months.

This sounds like a good idea very poorly thought out. Downtown certainly needs more arts, especially after the Rochester Repertory group was displaced for condos, but this gossamer dream approach will not attract investors. I have the feeling we can expect to see the building go back on the market and sit empty for a long time before finally being demolished by some developer.

It looks as if Floral Hall–aka Building 31–at the Olmsted County Fairgrounds has won a reprieve for now. Targeted for demolition by the county board last fall, a grassroots movement to save the building convinced the board to postpone demolition and pledge $75,000 toward the estimated $185,000 repair cost. The rest of the money needs to be raised through private donations.

In the meantime, a youth group called Leadership Greater Rochester has developed a plan for an overall facelift of Graham Park (the fairgrounds’ official name) that incorporates many of the existing historical structures, including Building 31.