For nearly a century, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School sat like a sentinel above the city, perched on the hill at 1100 South Goodman St., its Gothic towers peering over Highland Park. Designed by James Gamble Rogers, the same architect who left his mark on Yale and Columbia, the campus radiated a stately stillness that seemed immune to time.
But time caught up. Declining enrollment, costly maintenance and shifting patterns in theological education pushed the seminary to leave its iconic perch in 2018 for the Village Gate complex. The move offered flexibility and lower overhead, but the school’s visibility faded. “Is it still around?” became a common question.
Now, in a move as symbolic as it is strategic, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School (CRCDS) has returned downtown, moving into the historic Sibley Triangle Building a few steps from Parcel 5, Eastman School of Music and the heartbeat of Rochester’s rebirth…