The stars added to Rochester’s Secret Room in 2022 were not scattered at random. Fiber-optic lights in the ceiling followed a constellation pattern supplied by the Rochester Museum and Science Center: the city’s sky in July, brought indoors behind a disguised bookcase door. [1]
The room had already crossed a street in another form. Writing in 2013, Deputy City Historian Michelle Finn remembered following a librarian through a section of shelving in the Rundel Memorial Building as a child. By the time she worked there, a hearth and open archways remained from that reading room. Its successor was in the Bausch & Lomb Public Library Building opposite. [2]
Where is this place?
Bausch & Lomb Public Library Building, Rochester, New York. This map locates the town or region, not a verified exact historic event site.
The 2022 redesign began with a student workshop. RIT’s 2020 Hyperspace event paired interior-design students with the library; the winning team proposed a flexible space called “Haven.” Its overall concept, ceiling and flooring selections contributed to the finished room. Kelly Jahn, the faculty member who led the workshop, stayed involved to coordinate contracts, construction phases and permits. [1]
Children and adults had a say, too. Common Ground Health organized focus groups and interviews with families. At the reopening, children’s-services consultant Tonia Burton described requests for places to read quietly, play games, watch films and take part in art and science activities. A $32,000 KABOOM! grant supported the work. [1, 3]
The library’s own description now separates two things longtime visitors might remember together: the hidden entrance remains a feature of the Children’s Center, while the George W. Cooper International Doll Collection has moved to the Art Division. [4]