Rochester, N.Y. – A local blogger is leading an effort to get the Genesee Brewing Company to halt plans to tear town a historic building on the property.
The former Standard Brewing Company was built in 1899 on Cataract St., but has been vacant for many years. Last week, Genesee announced plans to demolish the building to make way for parking for a new visitors’ center to be located in an old packaging plant.
Genesee officials said developers had not expressed interest in the structure, which is in serious disrepair and needs millions of dollars in work.
Mike Governale, a history and development blogger at RochesterSubway.com, hopes the city does not grant the brewery permission to take down the building. He site linked to an online petition that aims to convince Genesee and the city to find an alternative to demolition.
“If you look at what other cities have done - Boston, Toronto - they’ve turned their historic brewing districts into very intimate, public places where people enjoy going,” Governale said. “If you turn this building into a parking lot, it loses all of that.”
Genesee plans to spend $2.6 million to open the Genesee Brew House, a bar, restaurant and visitors center, next year.
