Sibley’s-McCurdy’s Skyway

Reposted with permission from the Gonechester blog

When I was little, I was convinced skyways were the way of the future. I became five years old in 1990 and bridges stretched across the sky between tall buildings everywhere I looked, from science fiction to real life. I was convinced these interstructural walkways would grow in number and complexity until–at last–denizens of our city would wend their way like a hamster through its tubes. Cap it all off with a dome or several and you had the arcology city of my fantasies.

[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-expand-pedestrian/142075312/]

Turns out the reality was much less romantic, and much more of a political struggle. Despite dreams of a walkable, interconnected city, most of what we got were pared-down in cost and effectiveness, leaving many to conclude the walkways to be more civic boondoggle in a city already plagued with boondoggle.

Most of the Skyway linkages that I stared up at in awe as a youth are now gone. Though they hanged on for some time, the razing of Midtown Plaza mortally wounded the Skyway system. I focus today on one of those vanished skyway bridges, but touch upon a couple more. So let us rewind to…

The 1950s

It’s the 1950s and two department store giants, Sibley’s and McCurdy’s, stand astride either side of Rochester’s East Main Street, forming a canyon of rivalrous retail. Holiday shoppers are forced to wait to cross East Main at the point of its heaviest traffic, meanwhile bearing the brunt of Rochester’s brutal winter squalls. In crossing they must struggle through the roadside slush to the neighboring retail establishment. Woe! How delicious, indeed, it would have been to stroll across a warm, enclosed footbridge and carry on shopping!

Thus it’s no surprise that the idea of a pedestrian bridge linking up the two titans across East Main Street was floated even back in this age, when McCurdy’s pet project Midtown Plaza was just a schematic drawing. Unlikely as cooperation between the two competing stores may have seemed, the boon to commercial pedestrianism was an obvious sell.

Tuesday, December 23, 1958
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-proposed-midtown/143374097/]

Tuesday, December 23, 1958
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-midtown-plaza-mai/143374038/]

With a simple concept sketch, a struggle spanning the next thirty years–and beyond–would begin.

The 1960s

Naturally, the bridge over East Main Street would disproportionately benefit Sibley’s department store, as it would draw from the entirety of Midtown Plaza’s traffic which, in turn, would draw from only Sibley’s. Therefore, McCurdy insisted the walkway would land directly in McCurdy’s store, as opposed to Sibley’s preference of a landing point within Midtown Plaza proper. Due to this sticking point, McCurdy’s blocked the project.

McCurdy’s had also made an agreement with the city that Cortland Street would be deeded to Midtown Plaza after its construction, to be roofed over, and explained that any such bridge would interfere with that plan.

In 1969, the city council pushed through an ordinance allowing construction of the bridge to move ahead.

Wednesday, December 31, 1969
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-council-final-act/143471529/]

Wednesday, December 31, 1969
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-council-final-act/143471552/]

Naturally, this move blindsided McCurdy’s and incensed them enough to bring suit against the city.

The 1970s

The ordinance by the “lame duck” Democratic city council allowing the bridge construction was quashed by the new 1970 Republican city council. Sibley’s, incensed in turn, brought its own suit against the city.

Sunday, March 16, 1975
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-bridge-problems/143591493/]

A second bridge project was allowed to go ahead. This would be the first official bridge in the blossoming Skyway system: the curvaceous covered walkway between the Lincoln Tower [later the Chase Tower, today the Metropolitan Building] and Midtown Plaza over South Clinton Avenue.

Thursday, March 26, 1970
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-not-part-of-main/143715117/]

Wednesday, November 07, 1973
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-covered-walkway-f/143601393/]

Google Maps 2007
The “compromise” bridge over South Clinton Avenue, between Lincoln Tower [Chase Tower, Metropolitan Building] and Midtown Plaza.

The Sibley’s-McCurdy’s bridge was seemingly left for dead at this point.

Saturday, September 27, 1975
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-sibleys-mccurdys/143692008/]

The 1980s: A Compromise Reached

And yet, as per Taylor Swift, “what died didn’t stay dead”: the bridge was alive. An unexpected agreement was at last made between the two giants, allowing the handshake across East Main to connect.

Thursday, November 19, 1981
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-skyway-agreement/143578329/]

As one can surmise from the below map published in a 1982 issue of the Democrat & Chronicle, the city of Rochester had a far-reaching and complex plan for the development of the Skyway system of pedestrian bridges:

Sunday, August 22, 1982
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-city-skyways/135406628/]

Links were intended to form almost a spiderweb-like pedestrian walkway system among downtown buildings on the east side of the Genesee. A great number were built, many remain, and some never came to be. Some of them hint at intriguing possibilities.

One of these bridges, the still-extant footbridge linking the Sibley building to the Mortimer Street Garage, may have taken some focus away from the slow-moving negotiation process regarding the Sibley’s-McCurdy’s bridge.

Thursday, August 02, 1984
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-eclipsed/143727284/]

1986
Mortimer Street Garage to Sibley’s pedestrian bridge.
[https://catalogplus.libraryweb.org/?section=resource&resourceid=1115931739]

Though the long-planned Sibley’s and McCurdy’s pedestrian bridge over seemed closer than ever, the great expense incurred by the unusual width and length of the bridge meant its construction continued to be delayed for some time.

Sunday, August 22, 1982
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-wider-and-longer/143535289/]

Thursday, August 02, 1984
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-controversy-over/143586654/]

Friday, June 24, 1988
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-mccurdys-sibley/143594282/]

It was in 1988 when the bridge was officially finalized. Reactions to the planned bridge were mixed, much as they were for other connections in the skyway system; however, as this was the first of three planned skyway bridges over East Main Street, the controversy was somewhat more voluble.

Saturday, July 09, 1988
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-congratulations-o/143507053/]

Though proponents of skyways appreciated the connected shopping centers and avoiding the cold weather, opponents bemoaned the disruption of historic views. Merchants at street level on East Main Street were especially voluble with their concerns, noting [fairly accurately] that decreased foot traffic would strangle their businesses while channeling customers into already successful high-end department stores.

Sunday, February 05, 1989
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-controversy-about/143501131/]

Is Sibley’s Even Staying?

There was another concern making the waters turbulent around the skyway linkage between McCurdy’s and Sibley’s, and I wrote it above. Was Sibley’s about to cut and run? Was it worth building a link between McCurdy’s and a large, defunct building?

Friday, January 06, 1989
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-sibleys-intentio/143443508/]

Gloomy portents included Sibley’s parent company putting the entire top half of the Sibley building up for sale:

Tuesday, January 17, 1989
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-top-half-for-sale/143663118/]

1989: The Bridge Completed

The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new bridge took place at ten in the morning on Thursday, July 27th, 1989. This was part of numerous events celebrating–somewhat prematurely–the completion of the “Main Street project” begun in 1986. Though work would not actually be completed until the winter, optics and events demanded a summer holiday for the celebration.

Thursday, July 27, 1989
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-cleaning-skyway/143385268/]

Wednesday, July 26, 1989
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-sibleys-mccurd/143392297/]

Wednesday, September 06, 1989
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-mc-sib/143383730/]

I am at a loss to comprehend Ethel P. Randall’s above complaint regarding the pedestrian bridge. Did she believe one was meant to use the bridge to cross at street level? It’s not a crosswalk. Chances are anyone using the walkway is already at the second level of one or the other store, which hardly seems like an unusual circumstance.

89-year-old Charlotte W. Johnson, below, took some umbrage with Ethel’s glib assertions, and rose to the skyway’s defense:

Saturday, September 23, 1989
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-enjoying-the-new/143383499/]

The 1990s

The year 1990 opened with whimper as Sibley’s did the dreaded thing and closed its East Main Street store, effectively shuttering one end of the expensive new bridge.

January 25th, 1990 Democrat & Chronicle
Newly-completed skyway bridge, left, in background of Sibley’s going out of business sale.
[https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/money/business/2022/04/18/sibleys-prestigious-department-store-rochester-ny]

Saturday, January 06, 1990
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-sudden-end-to-sib/143402735/]

1990
The Sibley’s-McCurdy’s pedestrian bridge from above.
[https://catalogplus.libraryweb.org/?section=resource&resourceid=1115942652]

1990
The Sibley’s-McCurdy’s pedestrian bridge at street level, looking east. (bottom left). The empty supports for the Sibley’s sign are present.
[https://catalogplus.libraryweb.org/?section=resource&resourceid=1115966400]

1990
A view east from inside bridge; a worker is on the Liberty Pole.
[https://catalogplus.libraryweb.org/?section=resource&resourceid=1115920231]

1990 Modern Steel Construction
[https://www.aisc.org/globalassets/modern-steel/archives/1961-1995/1990v01.pdf] (pp.34-37)

The January-February 1990 issue of “Modern Steel Construction” magazine ran an article detailing some of the planning and construction process behind the bridge, which turned out to be a uniquely challenging construct. For one, though it was meant to match up with the cast-concrete pedestrian bridge over Clinton Avenue, Canadian suppliers were unable to guarantee the amount of prefabricated concrete necessary, increasing concrete costs and necessitating a greater proportion of steel construction for the footbridge.

1990 Modern Steel Construction
[https://www.aisc.org/globalassets/modern-steel/archives/1961-1995/1990v01.pdf] (pp.34-37)

1990 Modern Steel Construction
[https://www.aisc.org/globalassets/modern-steel/archives/1961-1995/1990v01.pdf] (pp.34-37)

1992
The Sibley’s-McCurdy’s pedestrian bridge at street level, looking east.
[https://catalogplus.libraryweb.org/?section=resource&resourceid=1116757757]

The 2000s

The walkway celebrated its first full decade of use just around the turn of the new millennium. The two great retail giants who had struggled so long to give birth to the bridge were both defunct, with McCurdy’s having shuttered its operations as of July 1994. Six years on from that, the bridge stretched between a Midtown Plaza which struggled to maintain tenants, and a Sibley building that suffered similarly.

2007 Google Maps
The Sibley’s & McCurdy’s Skyway

The above image from Google Maps shows the skyway bridge in 2007, just prior to my own short tenure in the building. In 2008, a wall was built on the second floor inside the Sibley building as part of MCC Damon City Campus renovations. MCC art professor Kathleen Farrell was tapped to provide students to paint a mural on the wall, depicting Rochester history. I was one of those students, and throughout 2008 spent numerous days working on the mural inside No. 228 East Main Street. During off-times, I would sit by the Liberty Pole and observe my surroundings, often looking at the Sibley’s-McCurdy’s bridge and remembering my childhood visits to Midtown Plaza.

Thursday, May 15, 2008
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-artwork-depicts-l/135514628/]

Little did I know that in two short years, that selfsame bridge was doomed to be lost to posterity.

After a long history of being desperately wanted, badly unwanted, debated, celebrated, and ballyhooed, it’s sad that life would eventually prove to be so short for the Sibley’s-McCurdy’s skyway bridge. All the effort and money that went into this were met with almost a shrug–what’s the point of this? Are we even still doing the Skyway thing?

2010: A Skyway Grounded

At last the Midtown Plaza mall met its demise in 2010. No longer the burgeoning center of downtown commerce, the retail space was an echoing and empty reminder of bygone shopping. First to go was the skywalk:

Friday, September 24, 2010
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-skywalk-first-to/143647862/]

Cut down, chunked up, and hauled off, the Sibley’s-McCurdy’s skyway bridge met its ignominious end.

Sunday, October 31, 2010
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-demolition-of-sky/143404889/]

All that was left for several years was the arch-shaped scar of the former walkway cover, until a 2016-2017 renovation cosmetically patched the stone and brickwork, making it nearly invisible to the uninformed eye.

(Although I can tell. I have Eyes to See.)

2012 Google Maps
The patched endpoint of the pedestrian bridge on the Sibley’s building.

Today

That brings us to today. Midtown Plaza lies empty, a fallow field of grass with an uncertain future. No skyway bridge punctuates the skyline. Thirty-five years after its construction, sixty-six years after its conceptualization, no sign remains that the bridge ever hung in the air above East Main Street. The only imprints remain on maps, photographs, newspapers, and our memories.

2024 Google Maps
The former site of the Sibley’s-McCurdy’s Skyway

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