Florian W. Derleth Slide Collection

Florian W. Derleth was born September 18, 1907, married Alida Duthoy on June 30, 1930 and passed away on April 29, 1996. He worked for the Central Trust Company in several capacities, notably as Auditor and, ultimately, as Assistant Vice President of Accounting. He and Alida had two sons, Paul and James.

The slides in this collection depict construction work and completed elements of the Genesee Crossroads urban renewal project. This large project, the single largest of several urban renewal projects carried out in downtown Rochester, New York in the 1950s and 1960s, saw the removal of Front Street and redevelopment or planned redevelopment of the corridor bounded by the Genesee River, Fitzhugh Street, the Inner Loop and Broad Street. During this project, the buildings on the Main Street Bridge were removed, and the Genesee Crossroads Garage, Charles Carroll Plaza, and the Genesee Crossroads Park were built. It also saw the erection of the new Federal Building, a hotel (currently the Holiday Inn Downtown), and the First Federal Plaza office building, which was topped by the rotating Changing Scenes restaurant. The outer elements of the project (between Fitzhugh and State Streets and Main and Broad Streets) were largely not carried out.