COMIDA action advances Henrietta’s plan to buy Dome Arena

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Plans by the town of Henrietta to buy the Dome Arena property remain on track after the County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency (COMIDA) today voted to extend through 2028 a PILOT agreement with the current property owner.

The PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) was set to expire in 2027, but the one-year extension — at 90 percent abatement — will provide a monetary buffer for owner Roxbury Dome Partners LLC until the town can arrange financing. Roxbury Dome Partners is headed by contractor and developer Frank Imburgia Jr.

Town officials envision the 54-year-old arena remaining a large event center while Minett Hall, which is connected to the arena, would become community and recreational space, Supervisor Steve Schultz said on Tuesday.

Build-out of Minett Hall would include the creation of small offices that could be assigned to community groups such as Rush-Henrietta Rotary club, Henrietta Foundation, Bhutanese Community of Greater Rochester, Henrietta Garden Club or other local organizations, Schultz said. There also would be two conference rooms.

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The remaining two-thirds of Minett Hall space would be used for a still-growing gymnastics program along with floor hockey, indoor soccer and pickleball.

The town also intends to construct an additional 8,000 to 10,000 square feet of space to the building. The total project cost would be around $11 million, Schultz said, or $110 per square foot. A new build to meet the same demands would cost between $250 to $450 per square foot, he said.

“So, this is an extremely cost-effective solution, in large part, thanks to Frank Imburgia’s interest in helping his community by selling it to us basically at cost,” Schultz said.

The town has even more significant plans for part of the 23-acre property at 2695 East Henrietta Rd. Officials plan to partner with Rochester’s Cornerstone Group to create affordable housing, with one building for seniors and a second for families.

In order to complete the deal, the town must obtain state and/or congressional funding. An application for a state BRICK grant (Building Recreational Infrastructure for Communities, Kids and Seniors) was not approved last year, but another proposal has been submitted.

Schultz told the Town Board in April that negotiations are underway with a promoter who will either pay a fixed annual fee to be the “exclusive promoter” for facility events or pay rent on a per-event basis.

Schultz said that the annual fee “could provide all of the additional revenues we would need to cover the cost of opening that facility as a community and recreation space.”

The Dome Arena has hosted a variety of events, from concerts, trade shows and expositions to minor league basketball, roller derby and indoor soccer. Rock group Foghat recorded its Foghat Live album at the arena in 1977 and, as Schultz often points out, Taylor Swift, before she became a pop icon, was the opening act at a 2006 Rascal Flats concert at the venue.

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