More Old Buildings Coming Down in Downtown Rochester

In the movie 'Back To The Future', the character Goldie Wilson, a candidate for mayor, uses the slogan, "Progress is his middle name!" That could also apply to downtown Rochester, as another building is being torn down to make way for a new development.

Earlier this year, I noticed the University Village Inn, on the corner of 5th St SW and 2nd Av SW in downtown Rochester, was vacant (although it had probably been vacant for longer than that). One of the original buildings had apparently already been torn down, and the remaining building was looking a little sad and rundown.

And now, sure enough, it's being torn down. When I left the station Wednesday night, I immediately noticed that the view to the south was different, and that most of the familiar brick building was now missing. Today, on my way in, even more of it is gone. It'll probably be all torn down by the time I leave today.

While the new development will no doubt be all modern, shiny and new, I'm always struck for a moment when I see a building being torn down, and pause to ponder what it was like when that building was once shiny and new, too. Of course, then I'm reminded that pretty much the only thing that is constant in life is change. And many parts of downtown Rochester sure are changing these days!