Bill Johnson to have Port of Rochester building named after him

Brian Sharp | Democrat and Chronicle

Show Caption Hide Caption New spaces opening at the Port of Rochester Waterfront event space Arbor at the Port opens Friday. Restaurant and bar Jetty at the Port will also reopen its renovated space upstairs.

Having the Port of Rochester terminal building named for him is an honor, former Mayor William A. Johnson Jr. said Friday.

And, he hopes, a step toward telling the complete story of how things came to be.

"All this is knitted together," Johnson said, recounting at some length what he called a 30-year evolution of riverfront investment from Lake Ontario to Henrietta. "There is a lot of work that people either were not aware of — or have chosen to forget."

Mayor Lovely Warren on Friday said it was about reclaiming Johnson's legacy.

The decision has drawn jeers online, as the failed high-speed ferry lost taxpayers millions during Johnson's tenure and is oft-cited by naysayers of sizable city undertakings.

But with the ferry came $150 million in Charlotte revitalization, according to the city, including to the terminal building itself. Marina construction and related improvements since have added $27 million to the total.

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"I'm not ashamed of us or anything that we did," Johnson said of his administration's efforts. "We wish that things had turned out better. ... (But) we still have a vibrant port, and I think that is the positive story here."

Spurred by the ferry, the port provided an early example of how to leverage sizable state and federal funds, Johnson added, and much investment has followed in riverfront trails, parks, housing developments including High Falls, Brooks Landing, Erie Harbor and more, to the latest, $50 million state commitment to aid riverfront projects.

But it's the failure of the ferry that gets singled out.

The ferry had a brief but unforgettable run to and from Toronto in 2004 and 2005, first as a private venture then as a city-backed endeavor. Both efforts failed and lost millions in taxpayer dollars.

Mayor Robert Duffy took office in 2006 and shut down the venture, which had lost $10 million in 10 months. The city sold the ship and repaid what remained of a $40-million loan, both with proceeds from the sale and cash on hand. To free up enough money, the city had to borrow about $20 million for other purchases it normally would have paid for directly.

On Friday, however, Warren pointed to what has permanence, in the near-capacity terminal building, the new marina with a waiting list, and what could be with the latest effort to redevelopment the surrounding parking lots for year-round uses.

"Today, I am choosing to reclaim his name, his honor and his legacy," Warren said, crediting his willingness to take on a vision that had spent years on the shelf.

"So, Mayor Johnson, I want you, your family and your friends to know, that 20 years from now, when your great-great-grandchildren come to this place, the plaques and the building that bear your name will hang with pride," she said, "and none of them will ever think about the fast ferry, because today, we reclaimed this place as the William A. Johnson Jr. Terminal Building at the Port of Rochester for all your great works as a citizen, as a man, but most of all, as mayor of the city of Rochester."

More: City again seeks development proposals for Port of Rochester

BDSHARP@Gannett.com

