Sibley's, Lindsay and Curr Building, historic high-rise building in Rochester, New York
The Sibley's, Lindsay and Curr Building is a commercial building in Rochester, New York, designed by J. Foster Warner and built for Sibley's in 1904. Its original five-story wing, constructed in 1906, is a steel skeletal structure clad in brown Roman brick with deeply set Chicago-style windows, topped by a clock tower with Baroque and Renaissance details. Additions in 1911 and 1924 included a 12-story tower section.
Sibley's moved to this site at East Main Street and Clinton Avenue in 1905, after the 1904 Sibley fire gutted the Granite Building and much of Rochester's dry goods district. Architect J. Foster Warner designed the building, built for Sibley's in 1904, with the original wing added in 1906 and further additions in 1911 and 1924. By 1939 Sibley's was the largest department store between New York City and Chicago; the May Department Stores Company acquired it, and the store closed in the early 1990s.
The name comes from Sibley's, the department store that moved here in 1905 after the 1904 fire and by 1939 was the largest between New York City and Chicago. Outside stands Liberty Pole Plaza, whose 190-foot metal Liberty Pole, erected in 1965, replaced two wooden poles from the 1800s and appears with the building in many historic photographs.
The building stands at 250 East Main Street, at the northeast corner of East Main Street and Clinton Avenue. The ground floor holds a DGX grocery and the Mercantile on Main food court; offices and apartments occupy the upper floors. Outside, Liberty Pole Plaza faces the building, where the 190-foot metal Liberty Pole erected in 1965 serves as a meeting point.
The building housed Monroe Community College's Damon City Campus from 1991 until the college moved to a new Downtown Campus in the Kodak Tower. The campus was the college's second, opened in the former department store before retail use ended there.
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