WXXI: Duffy Says He Chose Not to Kill Ren Square (2008-06-20)

Rochester mayor Robert Duffy responded Friday to criticism that he's not fully on-board with a performing arts center at Renaissance Square. Those charges stem from a Tuesday meeting of the corporation planning Ren Square. Duffy sits on that board, and questioned whether or not the project would be able to proceed with a theater, even though it doesn't have the necessary funds in hand.

Duffy says what he wants is an alternate plan for what that corner will look like if the arts center doesn't come through - not to quash the project entirely.

"I was not gonna go out in that room and kill a project that I think a lot of work has been invested in so far. I'm not worried about what's popular and what's not popular, because if I went with popularity out in the community, I could have said 'no' right there, walked away, and had people supporting my position."

The mayor says he's trying to protect the city from having a gaping hole at the corner of Main and Clinton, where the arts center is slated for on the Ren Square blueprints, if the project runs out of funds. But he wouldn't say whether or not he'd pick up the phone to call potential funders, like private corporations and philanthropists, to make up that gap.