Legacy of urban renewal: What does a church hope for when the Inner Loop gets filled in?

Editor's note: This story has been updated since publication to include details from a fall 2022 concept plan provided by the city of Rochester.

INNER LOOP — On the corner of Lyndhurst and Scio Street, a brick church with white trim watches over the city, its gaze set on the city skyline and the Inner Loop highway.

The church has observed 69 years of urban renewal projects, changes in the economy and protests in the city of Rochester. And yet, despite all that happened around it, it still stood. Watching the city and holding close a congregation that gathered, laughed, cried and sang together each week.

Impeccably dressed women gathered before entering the threshold of the church, their lace-trimmed hats shielding their faces from the Sunday morning sun. Inside the organ hummed, rainbow light from the stained-glass window speckled the floor while people chattered and laughed.

The conversation quieted — organ still humming — as the worship leader began. The sermon then transformed into song, and the congregation accompanied the harmonies. Their voices and the music filled the sanctuary with spirited emotion, an enchanting rhythm given life during each weekly ritual at New Bethel CME.

It’s kind of a miracle that the church is still here, in a Rochester community where so many buildings get torn down.

The New Bethel CME, the church on Scio Street, has watched years of deconstruction in Rochester. If you walk through the surrounding Marketview Heights neighborhood you’ll see many empty lots.

If you walk a few blocks down Scio Street, Lyndhurst Street or any nearby side streets you're likely to find a handful of vacant properties, weedy and overlooked. The city of Rochester has been demolishing abandoned buildings around the city.

In the 1950s, the church watched other residential areas being razed for the construction of the Inner Loop.

“It was homes all up and down," Anita Cooper Simpson said. "Both sides of Lyndhurst Street and on the other side, Delevan Street, were all nice homes."

Simpson grew up attending New Bethel CME starting in 1950. She remembers a time when the church was connected to a thriving neighborhood. She recalls hanging out at a park, walking to go get ice cream or attending the movies after church.

In conversation, Simpson and other members of the church were quick to point out that the construction of the Inner Loop highway and urban renewal programs tore through residential parts of Rochester.

“It was just, you know, emotionally devastating," said Arlene Wilson, who serves as the church’s historian. "People knew their neighbors, they've taken pride in having a home owning a home, even renting a home and then the neighborhood is gone, and people are scattered."

Members of the congregation knew people who had their home razed.

Around this time, Simpson’s childhood home on Nassau Street was bought up and eventually replaced with a warehouse.

“This whole area was big buildings, some storefronts and had all kinds of clothing stores. Rochester really looked like a city,” said Samuel Green, another church member. He noted that now “you drive two feet and see a big empty space, a lot or something like that.”

“I think we just accepted this change,” Simpson said, “we just kind of rolled with the punches.”

Reconstruction near New Bethel CME

The members who saw the destruction of homes and business were young when the Inner Loop was carved out. They could see their city changing but didn't know at the time what it all meant. Now, Rochester has plans to remove parts of the Inner Loop highway and reconnect the city, and the Marketview Heights Neighborhood is faced with the possibility of more development.

Even in their retirement age, they know what reconstruction means but can't predict exactly what its impact will be. Will the church's view of the city be block by apartment buildings? Will this bring back a lively neighborhood with parks and ice cream shops? Will this change the neighborhood for the better and if so, who will it be better for — in a city where white leaders made often racist decisions over the decades?

Rochester has already reconstructed the eastern section of the Inner Loop close to the Strong Museum of Play, where apartment complexes, bike lanes and some businesses have sprouted in its place. Similar plans are being discussed for the Inner Loop's north end, close to New Bethel Church CME.

Simpson, and a few other members said they do not want to see the same kind of apartment complexes built in the eastern section in their neighborhood.

“We want houses in here instead of apartment buildings. Yes, I would love to see that,” said Green.

If the Inner Loop is removed, which another church remember Rudy Jones admitted might be a bit inconvenient, they want to see more investment in the community.

“We want businesses that actually help the neighborhood and that provide jobs,” Wilson said.

What will end up replacing the Inner Loop will depend on what city's final plan includes. According to a statement from the city of Rochester, a fall 2022 concept plan:

• proposes at-grade urban streets;

• recommends lower-density, single-family, owner-occupied housing in the South Marketview Heights area;

• and sets aside around 8 acres of new green space throughout the corridor.

A plan made by the Hinge Neighbor group includes input from community members and stakeholders, like the member of the New Bethel Church. This plan includes parks, property for commercial development and a variety of housing options.

"It's been rebuilt again. But the question is like, I wonder if this will be torn up again in another 50 years?” Wilson said.

Help us tell more stories like these

DO YOU LIVE IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD?: The Democrat and Chronicle, as a part of the Revisiting the Rochester Narrative Fellowship, is focusing its efforts on telling stories about communities affected by the Inner Loop.

If you live in the Marketview Heights neighborhood or a neighborhood near the Inner Loop, I want to hear from you about your community. I would love to find a way to feature your voice in a story.

Revisiting the Rochester Narrative: What can we learn from the Inner Loop highway?

Georgia Pressley is a fellow with Revisiting the Rochester Narrative project at the Democrat & Chronicle. She can be reached at gpressley@gannett.com, @gapressley on Instagram or (206) 399-2280.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester Inner Loop removal: Race-dominated moves still resonate