Sibley's, Lindsay and Curr Building is a historic commercial building located at Rochester in

Monroe County, New York Monroe County is a county in the U.S. state of New York, located along Lake Ontario's southern shore. As of 2022, the population was 752,035, according to Census Bureau estimates. Its county seat and largest city is Rochester. The county is ...

. It was designed by noted Rochester architect J. Foster Warner and built for Sibley's in 1904. The original wing of the building was constructed in 1906 as a five-story, Chicago school style skeletal steel building sheathed in brown Roman brick with deeply set Chicago style windows, topped by a

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building ...

with Baroque and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

style details. Additions were made to the building in 1911 and 1924, including a 12-story tower section. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2014.

History

Overview

In 1905, after the disastrous 1904 " Sibley fire" gutted the Granite Building and much of Rochester's dry goods district, Sibley's moved to its final location, the Sibley Building at the northeast corner of East Main Street and Clinton Avenue. By 1939, Sibley's was the largest department store between

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Sibley's was acquired by

The May Department Stores Company The May Department Stores Company was an American holding company of department stores founded in 1877 by David May. It operated several regional department stores throughout the United States, which were managed as distinct business divisions ...

and the Sibley Building location closed in the early 1990s.

Liberty Pole Plaza

Located outside of the Sibley Building is Rochester's historic Liberty Pole Plaza, a public gathering space containing a large metal sculpture known as the ''Liberty Pole''. The Liberty Pole has been a pillar of the Rochester Community for many decades and in many images the Sibley Building provides a backdrop to the metallic artwork, taking its place in a number of historic photos throughout the years. The current 190-foot metal structure was erected in 1965, the third such structure on the site after two previous

Liberty pole A liberty pole is a wooden pole, or sometimes spear or lance, surmounted by a "cap of liberty", mostly of the Phrygian cap. The symbol originated in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar by a group of Rom ...

s made from wood in the 1800s.

Monroe Community College - Damon City Campus

The Sibley Building was formerly home to

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...

's MCC Downtown Campus, Damon City Campus. The campus opened in 1991 as the college's second campus and remained in the building until completion of its ne
Downtown Campus
located in the

Kodak Tower Kodak Tower is a 19-story skyscraper in the High Falls District of Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, ...

, headquarters of the

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

company.

Current - Sibley Square

Today, the building is owned by WinnCompanies of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, and was re-developed into a multi-use building. After the purchase, the building was renamed to Sibley Square, and its address was updated from 228 East Main Street to 250 East Main Street. The ground floor of the building contains retail space including a DGX Grocery and a food court called Mercantile on Main, while the upper floors contain office space and luxury apartments.

References

External links

Official websiteMercantile on MainSpectra at Sibley SquareLiberty Lofts at Sibley SquareThe Landmark at Sibley Square
{{City of Rochester, NY Clock towers in New York (state) Defunct department stores based in New York State Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Renaissance Revival architecture in New York (state) Commercial buildings completed in 1904 Mixed-use developments in New York (state) Commercial buildings in Rochester, New York National Register of Historic Places in Rochester, New York Buildings and structures under construction in the United States Chicago school architecture in New York (state)