Towne House Motor Inn	Towne House Motor Inn after expansion

Advertisement in Campus Times, October 28, 1958, Page 6.	Advertisement in Campus Times, November 3, 1972, Page 3.

The Towne House Motor Inn was developed by Wilmorite Inc. and opened on August 10, 1958 at 1325 Mt. Hope Avenue.  The motel's owners leased additional land from the University in 1965 and constructed an addition on the west end of the building that included a swimming pool, 33 new units, and a university data processing center in the basement.  A popular restaurant and bar operated at the east end, next to Mt. Hope Avenue.

One of the owners of Wilmorite was James P. Wilmot, who gave the University a one-third interest in the property in 1976.  The University planned to house about 100 undergraduate in the fall of 1982, but ended up buying the property.  In addition to an expanded computing center, the University housed undergraduate and graduate students in the building, and also used it for offices, including Security Services.  The building was demolished in 2013 to facilitate construction of the new College Town development, which included a new hotel.  The computer center moved to a new data center at 300 Science Parkway.

References
1957 "Motor Inn Under Way at Mt. Hope-Elmwood," Democrat and Chronicle, August 23, 1957, Page 16.
Towne House Motor Inn, also Elmwood Medical Building.

1958 "Mecca for Visitors, Diners," Democrat and Chronicle, August 10, 1958, Page 5H.
Towne House Motor Inn

1959 "Rochester Motel Subject of Trade Article," Democrat and Chronicle, January 15, 1969, Page 48.
January issue of Hotel Monthly, page 18 to page 32.

1959 "Success Story:  Motel has 85,000 Guests in Year," Democrat and Chronicle, August 16, 1959, Page 2G.

1965 "Planners Okay Zoning for Motel Addition," Democrat and Chronicle, August 26, 1965, Page 5C.
A proposal to rezone a strip of land along Elmwood Avenue for expansion of the Towne House Motor Inn, 1325 Mt. Hope Ave., was approved yesterday by the City Planning Commission. Owned by the University of Rochester and leased by the motel corporation under a 50½-year agreement, the additional land would be used for construction of a swimming pool and two-story, 33-unit addition to the motel. The basement of the addition will house a university data-processing computer unit. Attorney Frank Goodwin, appearing for the U. of R., said the 240-foot strip of land, which extends to 500 feet in depth, would revert to the University's ownership when the lease expires. A unique feature of the addition's construction would be a wall within the building which would allow tearing down a portion of the addition on the property lines.

1965 Democrat and Chronicle, December 4, 1965, Page 1C.
The University of Rochester Computing Center is moving its offices and much of its equipment from the River Campus to the ground floor of the new addition to the Towne House Motor Inn next spring, according to Thomas A. Keenan, director. The university plans to rent the space for five years.

1982 "Greek Revival," Democrat and Chronicle, June 26, 1982, Page 1B. | Part 2 |
Although construction is scheduled to be completed next fall, Hess said, "our best guess is that five of the houses won't be ready by the time the students return in September."
To cover that possibility, the university has made arrangements with the Pick Towne House, 1325 Mt. Hope Ave., to house up to 100 students at a special group rate, until the renovations are completed. Each student will have to make his own arrangements, Hess said, and will have the option of staying elsewhere.

1982 Democrat and Chronicle, August 31, 1982, Page 8D.
The University of Rochester will buy the Towne House Motel, 1325 Mt Hope Ave., from Pick Hotels Corp.

1982 "The Motel Dorm," Democrat and Chronicle, August 31, 1982, Page 1B. | Part 2 |
Short of dormitory space, University of Rochester buys the Towne House for UR and RIT Students
UR had owned a one-third share of the property since 1976 through gifts from the late James P. Wilmot, chairman of Wilmorite Inc., the construction and real estate firm.
The other owners were several relatives and business associates of James Wilmot, whom university officials said made a charitable contribution as part of the sale price.
University officials would not disclose the purchase price.  UR officially took over on Sept 1.
Since then about 80 UR undergraduates, 72 RIT students and about 50 UR graduate students have moved in to what is now called the University Towne House.
Christopher's, a restaurant and cocktail lounge at the site, is still open to the public although the university has put up a new class door to separate its small lobby from Christopher's entrance.
The outdoor swimming pool will probably be operated next summer as a part of a private club.
The UR computer center, which has occupied a part of the motel's annex for several years, will remain and probably expand.

1983 "UR sued over Towne House changes," Democrat and Chronicle, January 1, 1983, Page B1. | Part 2 |
UR bought the motel last summer and turned it into a dormitory.

1983 "UR seeking apartments for about 200 graduate, transfer students," Democrat and Chronicle, August 30, 1983, Page 1B. | Part 2 |

1997 "A Bigger Mt. Hope Wegmans," Democrat and Chronicle, July 9, 1997, Page 10D.
The chain will lease a site from UR to build a 70,000-square-foot supermarket.
Wegmans Food Markets said yesterday it plans to build a 70,000-square-foot supermarket on the southwest corner of Mt. Hope and Elmwood avenues to replace a 37-year-old store less than a block away.
The Gates-based supermarket chain has reached agreement in principle to lease a 7.3-acre site from the University of Rochester. The site is occupied by the UR Towne House and the Mt. Hope Professional Building and is adjacent to the 21,000-square-foot Mt. Hope Wegmans, at Mt. Hope and Crittenden Boulevard.
Terms of the agreement, which is subject to approval, were not disclosed. Wegmans is not expected to take possession of the property until mid-1999, said UR spokesman Robert Kraus.
"The idea in principle is that we would be leasing them the 7.3 acres for 40 years," Kraus said. After that, the 3.1 acres occupied by the Mt. Hope Wegmans and the leased property would revert to the university.
Wegmans spokeswoman Jo Natale said additional leased retail space would be built adjacent to the super market, but she had no details. Natale characterized the current store as "small and needing to be updated. It's not possible to carry a broad selection of products that are really necessary for those shoppers." The last new construction by Wegmans within the Rochester city limits was the Driving Park Avenue store, built in 1964, Natale said. She said Wegmans hopes to keep the Mt. Hope store open until the new store is completed. She said the company could not estimate how long it would take to build the store once it leases the land. Kraus said part of the Towne House property, built in the early 1950s, is used for telecommunications and computing departments. The need to move those departments is the reason Wegmans will not be able to take possession of the property sooner.

2013 "City motel's heyday didn't last," by Emily Morry, Democrat and Chronicle, March 18, 2013, Page 3B. | Part 2 |
Until last year building was home to 60 graduate students.  Later this spring, it will be demolished to make way for the University of Rochester's College Town development set to open in the summer of 2014.

2013 Video of the demolition of the Towne House 

© 2021 Morris A. Pierce