MIDTOWN PLAZA (ROCHESTER)

'Midtown Plaza' is a shopping mall in downtown Rochester, New York.
Designed by Victor Gruen, Midtown Plaza was dedicated on April 10, 1961 as the first downtown indoor mall in the United States. The first enclosed shopping center had been Southdale Center 1956, also designed by Gruen. The idea for this mall started with discussions between Gilbert J.C. McCurdy, owner of the McCurdy's department stores and Maurice F Forman, owner of the B. Forman Co. department stores. At this time strip plazas were growing in popularity. Though both owners had opened branch stores they were concerned about downtown Rochester's viability and came up with the idea of an indoor shopping center.
Gruen was at the height of his influence when Midtown was completed and the project attracted international attention. City officials and planners from around the globe came to see Gruen's solution to the mid-century urban crisis. Midtown won several design awards.
Gruen described the aerial view of Rochester as a giant parking lot with a few buildings to inconvenience traffic flow. His intention was to create a pedestrian friendly town square for Rochester, NY, a medium sized city near the mouth of the Genesee River. He incorporated art, benches, fountains, a four hundred seat auditorium and a sidewalk cafe into his plans hoping to encourage the sort of social intermingling that he saw as the enriching essence of urban life.
Later in life Gruen dismissed the strictly commercial suburban malls as "those bastard developments" but continued to hold Midtown in high regard. It is probably the project that most closely followed his plan and shared his civic vision.
In addition to the shopping center, the Plaza also includes a skyscraper office building.
Midtown was economically vibrant into the early eighties when suburban shopping malls opened outside of the city. Surrounded by high pockets of poverty, Midtown has struggled to keep tenants since then. Midtown's struggles increased in the mid-1990s when the mall's two anchors, McCurdy's and Forman's, closed in 1994. Their closing was quickly followed by the closing of the Midtown branch of a regional high end grocery chain, Wegmans.
Midtown, once considered the sign of a new urbanism, was placed on the list of 2002 Empire Zones.
Current tenants include Peebles department store, some downscale clothing stores, a dollar store, a record store, a jewelry store, a gift shop and a US post office.
Each Christmas, Midtown Plaza brings in one of the tallest indoor Christmas Trees in the area. The mall also sets up an indoor monorail ride for children 10 and under.
Midtown Plaza is also famous for its Clock of Nations. The clock, which represents 12 nations, has 12 cylinders each with a scene with puppets for each nation. Considered a significant piece of art when it was unveiled, the original puppetry was not well maintained and was replaced in the mid-70's with the work of a local housewife.
Located directly underneath Midtown Plaza is a three level, 1,843 space parking garage.

Contents

Former Anchors

Further reading

External links

Former Anchors

B. Forman Closed 1994
McCurdy's Closed 1994
Wegmans Closed 1995

Further reading

''The Heart of Our Cities'', Victor Gruen
''Mall Maker'', M. Jeffrey Hardwick

External links

★ Midtown Plaza Website

★ Vintage photo of "Clock of Nations"