(Rochester, N.Y.) – The Town of Webster proposed a former Xerox office and storage facility as the site for a new performing arts center during a presentation to the Rochester Broadway Theater League.
“The Town of Webster has been the fastest-growing town in this community,” said Supervisor Ronald Nesbitt.
The town did not reveal cost estimates for project or whether any private funding is included in the plan. Nesbitt said the town would be seeking grants. Reusing the building at 800 Salt Rd. would shave $500,000 to $1 million off the cost of the project, according to an engineer who participated in the presentation.
“It has the parking. It has the access. If you want to get to there, you don't have to go through a whole bunch of traffic to get to there,” Nesbitt said.
Webster is one of five suburbs vying for a new theater. The others are Medley Centre, Clinton Crossings, Canal Ponds Business Park, and Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack.
The city now wishes to enter a location. Mayor Robert Duffy submitted a letter to RBTL on Thursday asking that the Midtown site be considered for a theater. He asked to make a formal presentation to RBTL. In the letter, he wrote the theater must be funded, and it must be proven that the Auditorium is too expensive to renovate.
RBTL insisted that the Midtown idea is not a show-stopper.
“This process was never designed as a method of pressuring the city to make a proposal and that remains the case today,” said Frank Hagelberg, the chairman of RBTL’s site selection committee.
RBTL claims its current home, Auditorium Center, would cost too much money to renovate and expand. After years of trying to building downtown – one at Midtown Plaza – RBTL broadened its search when the Renaissance Square project collapsed.
“I've always been a proponent of a theater being built downtown, but I have to say that a lot of these proposals are so exciting and so different, because we have never looked at any other location, that we've got a lot of hard work to do to figure out the right site,” said Arnold Rothschild, chairman of RBTL.
Rothschild said building a theater downtown would cost more money. He said financing would be key when it comes time to pick a site.
