Walking on Water at the Newly Revitalized Rochester Peace Plaza
Photography by Andrea Rugg | July 28, 2022
Young ones cool their feet in the new Peace Plaza reflection pool. Photo by Andrea Rugg Photography.
SPOTLIGHT
After reading about the recently completed renovation of Peace Plaza in downtown Rochester, Twin Cities photographer Andrea Rugg was curious to see the space in use on a summer weekday. Earlier this month, she photographed the plaza and its street life for ENTER. At first, some of the people occupying or passing through the plaza were tentative about stepping into the reflection pool, afraid to interrupt Rugg’s shoot. But with reassurances from the photographer, they let their instincts take over.
“Children, especially, were drawn to play in the water,” says Rugg. “A little boy wandered around the pool, a woman practiced meditation, young girls danced barefoot. That evening, I asked a young family if they would come back at sunset to be in photos of the historic Chateau Theatre with all the lights on. They were completely open to spending more time there.”
Images 1–14: The east side of Peace Plaza, with its colorful and climbable '“DOWNTOWN” sign, platforms, café tables, water scrim, and iconic fountain. The raised words in the plaza pavers (image 12)—an installation titled “A Song for Water” by Ann Hamilton—come from a poem titled “Song for the Mississippi River” by Dakota historian Dr. Gwen Westerman. The soon-to-reopen Chateau Theatre marquee and the fountain help illuminate the space at night. Photos by Andrea Rugg Photography.
Rugg learned new details about the revamped plaza in her conversations that day—in particular, about the “Wakefield” installation by Rochester artist Eric Anderson, a combination of mist and light that appears over the pool typically 20 to 30 times a day. “The mist represents first and last breaths in real time,” says Rugg. “Whenever a baby is born or there is an end-of-life notification at the nearby Mayo Clinic, the installation activates with light and fog.
Rugg notes that there were still a few groups of people seated at the tables when she left after dark. “It felt like a fun and safe urban park,” she says. “People were eager to be around water and spend time there. The plaza will no doubt come alive even more with the grand reopening of the theater this fall and as additional Destination Medical Center projects are built in the next few years.”
The renovation of Peace Plaza was part of the first phase of the Destination Medical Center’s Heart of the City project. The project team for the renovation included Coen+Partners, RSP, HR&A Advisors, and Kimley-Horn.