Heating Plant, from The University of Rochester : buildings and grounds (1910)

The Heating Plant began service in December 1904 to replace individual building boilers on the Prince Street Campus.  It was enlarged in 1913 and 1927, and sold in 1955 after the College for Women moved to the River Campus.  The remaining buildings, including the Memorial Art Gallery, Cutler Union, and dormitories were connected to the Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation's Lawn Street steam plant.  The building today is the home of Rochester Works at 255 North Goodman Street.

References
1904 "Detached Heating Plant for University," Democrat and Chronicle, June 30, 1904, Page 8.

1904 "Indication of Building," Democrat and Chronicle, October 16, 1904, Page 22.
Steam Conduits Laid to Site of Eastman Laboratories at University.

1904 "The New Heating Plant," Campus, October 19, 1904, Page 7.

1904 "Heating Plant Tested," Democrat and Chronicle, November 1, 1904, Page 14.

1910 The University of Rochester : buildings and grounds
Pages 21:  Central Heating Plant

1918 "Soft Coal Shut Off; Less Light and Car Service," Democrat and Chronicle, January 14, 1918, Page 15.
Public and Private Schools Closed Till Further Notice.

1918 "City Schools to Open Wednesday," Democrat and Chronicle, January 20, 1918, Page 23.

1925 "Construction of New Steam Tunnel, Necessitated by New Dormitory, Assures Adequate Heat to Buildings," Campus, October 16, 1925, Page 5.
Two old boilers of seventy-five horse-power capacity which have been in operation since 1904 have been replaced by a single two-hundred horse-power boiler of modern design.

1925 "Fuel Consumption Measured by Engineering Department," The Campus, October 23, 1925, Page 7.

1927 Rochester, the making of a university, by Jesse Leonard Rosenberger, with an introduction by President Rush Rhees.
Page 279:  A central heating-plant was installed in the summer of 1904, at a cost of about $29,000, to heat all the buildings then on the campus and immediately in prospect. It was furthermore located and equipped with a view to its usefulness as a power-house adjunct of a department of mechanical engineering, when such a department should be established. It constituted the fourth and by far the most satisfactory step in heating at the university. In Anderson Hall were represented the first three steps: by wood stoves, by coal stoves, and by local steam-heating plant. While stoves were depended upon, the students made many complaints that in winter generally the chapel and sometimes the recitation rooms were not sufficiently heated.
Page 295:  In 1913 the heating-plant was enlarged, and the number of boilers increased from three to six. Two years later the Reynolds Laboratory was enlarged by building on a new part which yielded 2,280 square feet of floor space; and the well-lighted basement was refinished so as to provide two laboratories and two good recitation rooms, as well as coat rooms and lavatories; besides which the furnishing of the building was completely modernized, producing a chemical laboratory modern in every particular.

1936 "Smoke Inspector Scans 1,850 Stacks in 30-Year Effort to Make Rochester one of the Cleanest Cities in State," Democrat and Chronicle, January 7, 1936, Page 14.
Perched on the 15th floor of the Lincoln Alliance Bank Building, he peers through his telescope day by day in the municipal effort to keep the city one of the cleanest in the state.
It's a sensitive glass which he swings around in order to squint at the chimney over the Women's College a half mile away.

1945 "Keep Cool!  Classes Continue Regardless of Fuel Shortage," Tower Times, February 2, 1945, Page 4.

1946 "Coal Strike Has Little Effect on Vacation," Tower Times, December 6, 1946, Page 1.

1954 "RG&E to Connect 2 Steam Stations," Democrat and Chronicle, January 23, 1954, Page 9.
Rochester Gas & Electric Corp. will construct a steam line from its Lawn St. station to connect with the smaller Anderson Ave. station as soon as weather permits, Ralph H. McCumber, manager of electrical and steam operations, disclosed yesterday. Purpose is to strengthen the present system, particularly the Anderson station, which serves mainly industrial plants in the area. The 9,000 foot steam main will follow a route from Lawn St. to Court, East Ave. to Prince, north to College Ave. and east to Anderson.

1954 "P-Street Upheaval Causes Speculation, Betting, Tsk!," Tower Times, October 5, 1954, Page 7.
Rochester Gas and Electric Steam Pipes.

1954 "Smoke Goes Out as Steam comes In!," Democrat and Chronicle, October 31, 1954, Page 39.

1955 "New Two-Mile-Long High Pressure Steam Main Installation at Rochester, N.Y.," District Heating 40(4):140-142 (April, 1955)
From Station 8 on Lawn Street.  Next fall several of the buildings of the Women's College of the University of Rochester will be served by this steam main.

1955 "Rezoning of UR Buildings for Commercial Use Asked," Democrat and Chronicle, October 18, 1855, Page 22.
Peter Laiosa purchases old heating plant and Carnegie Hall.

1977 History of the University of Rochester, by Arthur J. May (on-line version with footnotes)
Chapter 15, Widening Horizons
Characteristically, Rhees inquired of other college executives what their experience had been with a central heating plant. And when the responses proved favorable, he pushed ahead with a similar facility for Rochester, personally supervising the construction which was completed in November, 1904. Placed at the northeastern corner of the campus, the red brick plant, which was stoked automatically, cut down heating costs. After the erection of other buildings, it became necessary in 1913 to enlarge the plant, doubling its capacity. Soot from the chimney which showered down on campus pedestrians was brought under control In 1913 the heating-plant was enlarged, and the number of boilers increased from three to six. Two years later the Reynolds Laboratory was enlarged by building on a new part which yielded 2,280 square feet of floor space; and the well-lighted basement was refinished so as to provide two laboratories and two good recitation rooms, as well as coat rooms and lavatories; besides which the furnishing of the building was completely modernized, producing a chemical laboratory modern in every particular.

© 2021 Morris A. Pierce