Slaughter Announces Federal Approval of Brooks Landing Project

Work Will Re-Develop Critical City and University Neighborhood

Washington, DC - Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-Fairport), Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee, announced today that the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service (NPS) has approved the Brooks Landing Project. With this regulatory approval in place, the project can finally break ground, with the remaining public right-of-way improvements expected to be completed this fall.

"This project has been on the drawing board in one form or another for at least 20 years," Rep. Slaughter said. "The area's current make-up hides the wonderful neighborhood that exists all around it.  The project will flip that 180 degrees and make the area a community anchor, improving not only the 19^th Ward, but also the University of Rochester and areas up and down the Genesee River."

Rep. Slaughter was instrumental in gaining NPS approval for the plans.  Her office was in close contact with the NPS over the past few months while the agency completed its review work.  Rep. Slaughter personally wrote to Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and NPS Regional Director Mary Bomar, urging both to expedite the agency's review. The Congresswoman also secured $400,000 in funding for the project.

The NPS parkland conversion approval was the final regulatory hurdle the project needed to satisfy. 

BACKGROUND

NPS approval of the Brooks Landing Project allows the City of Rochester to replace 1.38 acres of converted parkland within Genesee Valley Park with 19.5 acres of vacant city-owned land located adjacent to Turning Point Park along the Genesee River. 

Funding will be applied to reconstructing South Plymouth Avenue to enhance vehicle and pedestrian access between the neighborhood and the public waterfront. Improvements will include road width changes, the addition of parking spaces, pedestrian trail access, including access to the State-wide Historic Erie Canal Trail and Genesee Greenway Trail, and the addition of traffic signs and kiosks.

The project will also feature construction of a new 80-room hotel, a 20,000 to 25,000-square-foot mixed-use development building, and a new public pedestrian promenade on the waterfront which will link to the existing river trail system and a new boat landing for Erie Canal tourists.  The work expected to create 100 permanent jobs and 200 construction jobs.