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Landmark Alerts

Virtual Inside Downtown Tour tickets on sale now!

One of the consequences of the pandemic was cancellation of the Fall 2020 Inside Downtown Tour. Good news: We’re back! We couldn’t wait a whole year to bring you this special tour. You’ll be able to enjoy the tour in March, and the best news of all: it’s a virtual tour!

The Inside Downtown Virtual Tour will still open up to you urban environments where people are creating exciting spaces to live and work. This professionally produced video will take you into re-purposed spaces, renovated homes, lovingly preserved places, and newly built sites that are designed with sensitivity to the overall built environment. You’ll basically get a crash course on what’s the latest trend in urban living.

2021 Virtual Inside Downtown Tour Honorary Chair

Tickets and details

Preservation alert: comments due this Friday

A project is under Site Plan Review at the City of Rochester that involves the demolition of two historic houses. The project is located at 84 and 86 South Union Street and proposes to demolish 2 houses in order to construct an addition on an apartment building (known as the Ambassador) that is being converted to a hotel.

The Landmark Society is strongly opposed to this project as currently presented. One of these structures (86 S. Union, located behind the apartment building) will be demolished to simply create additional “green space” for the new hotel. The proposed demolition of the historic house fronting Union Street (84 S. Union, to the left of the brick apartment buiding in above image) is a particular concern, given the structure’s high level of historic integrity and design. Further, the historic Ambassador building’s most character-defining feature, the front entrance, will be modified to such an extent that it will be unrecognizable and completely out of character with the rest of the building.

The City of Rochester has extended the comment period for this project. Comments can be submitted to siteplanreview@cityofrochester.gov and are due by this Friday, 3/12 at 5:00 PM.

View the project details

Upcoming grant deadlines

It’s grants season! Below are just a sampling of some upcoming deadlines for preservation-related grant applications. Please note that most of these programs are not administered by The Landmark Society. Visit the websites for each program and contact their grants staff for more information.

Genesee Valley Rural Revitalization (GVRR) –  In partnership with the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation, The Landmark Society is offering GVRR grants to support building repair, historic resource surveys, and National Register nominations in rural communities in the Finger Lakes and Western New York. Due March 31st.

Preserve New York – A signature grant program of the Preservation League of NYS and the New York State Council on the Arts, Preserve NY makes grants for historic structure reports, building condition reports, cultural landscape reports, and cultural resource surveys. Due April 12th.

Humanities New York – Humanities NY offers Action Grants, Vision Grants, and Quick Grants to plan and implement humanities projects. You can make an appointment with HNY staff to discuss your project idea. Visit their website for details!

Vitality Grants: Preserving Historical Assets – The Rochester Area Community Foundation offers grants that  strengthen regional vitality by preserving our region’s historical assets and promoting educational efforts that build on these assets. A 2021 application deadline has not been announced but you can sign up for funding updates on The Community Foundation’s website.

Info on GVRR grants

Women in Preservation & Design tomorrow

Celebrate Women’s History Month tomorrow night with our Young Urban Preservationists as they bring you a brand new class, Women in Preservation and Design. The YUPs have two other brand new classes, to be offered virtually through the Rochester Brainery. All classes are live on the Brainery’s website–follow the link below!

  • For Women’s History Month in March, Women in Preservation & Design
  • In April, The Rocks that Built Rochester, an exploration of the intersection between architecture and geology
  • In May, Beginner’s Guide to Old House Interior Design

Interesting in learning more about or getting involved with the YUPs? Check out their website or e-mail them to sign up for the next monthly Steering Committee meeting on March 10th. Meetings are open to all!

Register here

Did you watch Walk the Walk?

Walk the Walk: Encounters with Rochester’s African American Ancestors

This year’s virtual Walk the Walk performance is still available! Enjoy this free, entertaining and moving performance, as African-Americans from Rochester’s past come to life to share their stories. Share the experiences of Rochesterians from the past, as you meet notables such as Frederick Douglass and Austin Steward – as well as those who may not be as well known, such as Bessie Hamm. Appropriate for adults and families.

Click here to watch

Thank you to our past event sponsors!


The Landmark Society of Western New York is supported, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature

The Landmark Society receives support from Monroe County through the Mid-Size Arts Organization Grant

5 Castle Park, Rochester, NY 14620
PHONE: (585) 546-7029 x10 · FAX: (585) 546-4788

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