Our June Update

June's warmer, dryer weather allowed for perhaps our most impactful month ever, as we planted, painted and litter-picked our way across downtown Rochester.

In fact, our biggest challenge now is keeping up on the watering! 💦

Our first project was a collaboration with the City and Reconnect Rochester. We placed 3 sturdy wooden planters at the Greyhound/FLIX bus stop on Pleasant Street, embellishing them with wayfinding signage to help create a sense of place. This coincided with the addition of seating at this location, and the combined effect is now a more welcoming and dignified experience for inter-city riders traveling to and from Rochester.

🌻 One of our favorite projects this month were the large concrete planters outside the entrance to RIT's Center for Urban Entrepreneurship (the historic Rochester Savings Bank building). We've had our eye on these for quite some time, so we jumped at the chance to tackle them. The end result was better than we even imagined, making a bold statement at the corner of Franklin and Liberty Pole Way.

Planters outside the landmark 40 Franklin St.

🗑 We hate to talk trash (do we though?), but a very special thank you is in order to the teenagers from The Community Place of Greater Rochester's after-school program, who came out in force to help remove over 350 pounds of litter in one afternoon! This incredible effort, combined with our regular daily rounds, helped us set a new one-month record with 675 pounds collected overall.

The Community Place After-School Team

We're also proud to share that we recently completed the restoration of our 15th and 16th benches across downtown. The most recent pair outside Washington Square Garage were painted a soothing lilac, adding a welcome pop of color along Woodbury Blvd.

We particularly enjoy the impact of these bench renovations because they so easily re-enliven existing infrastructure in a way that welcomes their more frequent use and enjoyment.

And they don't require watering! LOL

Two more benches revitalized. Thanks Mario!

As June heated up, we continued cleaning, beautifying and activating spaces throughout the center city. This includes, notably, St. Joseph's Park/Church which we are helping realize its full potential as a remarkable public space (now open most weekdays between 8-4 for your enjoyment).

And speaking of St. Joseph's Park, we are thrilled to report that we will be breaking ground VERY soon on our most ambitious project ever... the creation of the Margaret "Midge" Thomas Community Garden. This will be a transformational enhancement to the challenging corner of Clinton and Pleasant.

Two of the 18 planters we placed in June alone

Our mission is to play a key role in the continuing revitalization of downtown Rochester. We believe that a clean, beautiful and active downtown is not just important, it is necessary. A healthy, vibrant downtown is the tide that lifts all ships in our city... and our entire region.

If you agree, please share this once-monthly update with someone else who cares about downtown.

And remember, every day is an opportunity to make our city just a little bit better.

- Mike and Tina Gilbert

We like to make an immediate and dramatic impact, so patience is not one of our virtues. But in this case playing the long game paid off.

Shell Restaurant is opening soon on Pleasant St. To welcome them, we placed this jumbo planter where a tree stump was recently removed.

Please consider becoming a Downtown ROCstar by supporting our efforts with a tax-deductible gift. Every dollar is invested directly into placemaking projects that enhance our center city.

Our May Update | Our April Update