Editor’s note: Rochester thrives on playing around

Micron’s delayed opening of its first two chipmaking factories outside Syracuse by two to three years was a disappointment for Central New York, where job creation and economic development are top priorities. Fortunately, there’s one local job creator that’s thriving in downtown Rochester: The Strong National Museum of Play. Having completed a $75 million expansion in 2023, this nerdy, unique curator of all things fun sits in a revitalized “Neighborhood of Play” that includes a new hotel, parking garage and market-rate housing.

Strong has since brought in $160 million in added tourism revenue, plus more than 120 new jobs into the region, according to a press release from Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office. Nearly 1 million visitors are expected by 2026, up from a high of 600,000 reported before the COVID-19 pandemic. Named after Rochester native Margaret Woodbury Strong, who first allowed visitors to her private doll and dollhouse collection in 1969 (the official museum opened in 1982), the collection today reflects no limits to how people play. “We’re combining the artifacts and the interpretation, right? What are the things? What does the play mean? What’s the history of it, with opportunities to actually play,” Jeremy Saucier, Strong’s assistant vice president for interpretation and electronic games, told City & State on an exclusive museum tour that included the basement – a space that looks like the warehouse of forgotten artifacts in the final scene of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Some are local, including pinball machines made on Long Island and ColecoVision video games made in New Amsterdam, both long gone, but not forgotten in a collection bringing new life to the heart of Rochester.