WXXI: Slaughter Says Ren Square Not on Federal Funding List (2009-02-20)

A variety of "shovel-ready" projects in upstate New York could soon be in progress, thanks to help from the newly enacted federal stimulus package. But downtown Rochester's Renaissance Square will not be one of them.

Democratic Congresswoman Louise Slaughter of Fairport says there's no plan to apply any of the infrastructure money in the package to Renaissance Square's under-funded performing arts center, despite the county executive's request of both the federal and state government for $30 million for the project.

Slaughter says she still questions the wisdom of the entire project, including the transportation center at the core of it. And she says while the project will create construction jobs, ultimately it will "always take money. It's not going to make money."

The congresswoman has been a vocal opponent of Renaissance Square, and speaking on WXXI's 1370 Connection on Friday, she outlined her concerns about the project's prospects for retaining about $230 million in unspent federal funds.

"I tell you nobody would have the nerve to ask the federal government to fund almost a quarter of a billion dollars for a bus station, and part of the community college ... it boggles the mind ... I understand they got some 'ok' on the environmental things, but they're nowhere near ready."

The project received a "finding of no significant impact" (FONSI) from the Federal Transit Administration earlier this week, which had been touted as an essential milestone for the project's viability.

The congresswoman's support, and that of Senator Charles Schumer, is crucial for ensuring that Renaissance Square goes forward. Federal funds for Renaissance Square have been repeatedly reallocated to the Rochester area, but Schumer announced last April that he wouldn't work to re-up the cash if there wasn't a plan in place to move the project along by the end of this January.

County executive Maggie Brooks, who's on the board of the Ren Square project, and is a big booster of the complex, says she and the senator have a memorandum of understanding that he will advocate for the dollars again in the federal budget. Brooks says getting the FONSI means that Renaissance Square is now recognized as a valid project by the federal government, and will go forward.

But after a press event on Thursday, Schumer was hustled away by staff before answering reporters' questions about whether or not he would advocate for reallocating federal funds for Ren Square. What he did say was that the bottom line on the project is that "when this started, both the county executive and the mayor were for it, they're the two local officials."

Rochester's mayor, Robert Duffy, is also on the board of Renaissance Square's development corporation, but has not attended a public meeting or event for the project in several months. He's also publicly expressed doubt that the project will be able to secure theater funds from the state or federal government, and said that he won't support the project without the theater component.

Slaughter says with the project still tenuous, she'd rather seen funds invested in Rochester's rail station. According to Slaughter the station currently doesn't meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities act.

Slaughter is also skeptical of the decision to site regional bus service from Trailways and Greyhound at Renaissance Square, which she says would be better suited to the train station.

The congresswoman says the only reason the companies are part of the Renaissance Square transportation hub is because they're being evicted from their current homes at Midtown Plaza, to make way for a redevelopment project there.