Location & Parking

The 2019 Rah Cha Cha Ruckus will be held at:

Rochester Main Street Armory
900 East Main Street
Rochester, NY 14605

(click for google maps)

Site Setup

Competition & Field: Armory Arena Floor
Pits: Armory Arena Floor
Concessions & Eating Areas: Armory Concessions
Parking: Armory Parking Lots (Free!)

Parking / Robot Drop Off Info

Thank you for attending at the Rah Cha Cha Ruckus. Our committee wants to make sure your experience is enjoyable. We know that this venue has challenges when it comes to providing enough parking, so we would like to work with you to try to fit everyone in and still provide a good event experience.

Please listen to all parking volunteers. They have the thankless job of trying to get everyone parked at the event. Please be nice to them and listen to their instructions. Please be patient!

**The Rah Cha Cha Ruckus Planning Committee does not resume any responsibility for vehicles parked either on Armory property in designated lots or on public roads. All parking is at your own risk!

Bus Parking Information

• There is NO bus parking at the venue. Bus parking is offered nearby at Harris Corporation located on University Avenue approximately 2 miles from the venue.
• Make sure to head to the Entrance and not the Exit! This is depicted on the map below.
• If you are unloading items for your pit that are on your bus, inform the volunteer that you intend on loading in and then follow their instructions for proceeding to the loading dock.
• There will most likely be a line so please be prepared to unload as quickly and safely as possible.
• Once you are done unloading please exit the venue parking area.
• If you are NOT unloading pit materials, please DO NOT enter the venue parking area! Instead pull in front of the venue to unload people from your bus. This is shown on the map below.

Trailer Parking Information

• There is NO trailer parking at the venue. Trailer parking is offered nearby at Harris Corporation located on University Avenue approximately 2 miles from the venue.
• Make sure to head to the Entrance and not the Exit! This is depicted on the map in this document.
• When you arrive at the entrance inform the volunteer that you intend on loading in and then follow their instructions for proceeding to the loading dock.
• There will most likely be a line so please be prepared to unload as quickly and safely as possible.
• Once you are done unloading please exit the venue parking area.

Team Car Parking Information

• We try to offer up one team parking spot around the venue during the competition.
• We CANNOT guarantee that you will not be blocked in by other cars when you are parked.
• Parking passes will be provided at the pit admin table Friday night or by parking volunteers Saturday morning. You will need to provide a name and a cell phone number in order to receive a pass. This is so that we can get a hold of you if we need to move your car.
• Please place your pass on your driver side dashboard so it is visible through the windshield.
• It is advised to get your pass Friday night so that you are not stuck waiting in line the morning of Ruckus.
• Make sure to enter in the venue parking using the Entrance and NOT the Exit! Please see the map below for more information on where the entrance is.

• Do NOT park in handicap spaces unless you have a pass!
• Do NOT block the loading dock or park in the area in front of the loading dock ramp. This is a parking keep out zone so that buses and trailers can maneuver.
• Parking at the Armory is limited. We strongly encourage all teams to car pool as much as possible.
• If you can’t find parking at the armory, there is also on-street parking near the Armory.

Alternate Off-Site Parking for Cars

• Parking at the Armory is limited. We strongly encourage all teams to car pool as much as possible.
• If you can’t find parking at the armory, there are three near-by options:
  1. On-street parking in the surrounding neighborhoods. Be aware of parking restrictions as they can change at different times of the day.
  2. Rochester Public Market parking – the Rochester Public Market is approximately 0.6 miles away and has several public (free) parking lots as well as a few private (paid) parking lots. For GPS purposes, the main public lots are at: 
  --3 Trinidad Street (right out of Armory, right on Prince Street, left on Champeney Terrace, Right on Union Street, under the railroad tracks, left on Trinidad Street, parking lot is on left). 
  --160 Railroad Street (left out of Armory, over the railroad tracks, sharp left on Railroad Street, parking lot is on the right just before the entrance to the Public Market).

Map Directions to Public Market Parking Lots

Bus and Trailer Parking

• Offsite bus and trailer parking is being generously donated by Harris Communications.
• Please park your bus and trailer in the West Lot at Harris Corporation. See the maps below for location and directions.
• Parking will be available starting at 5PM on Friday and will end after Ruckus on Saturday.
• There is no shuttle service available.

** Approximate GPS location is 1700 University Avenue **

Team Member Drop Off

• If you are dropping off members of your team, please DO NOT enter into the venue parking area! Instead pull in front of the venue and unload as depicted in the map in this document.
• Do not use this as a place to unload or load your Team’s “stuff”; this drop-off spot is just for humans, not robots.

An Additional Parking Consideration

• Be aware that the Theatre across the street from the Armory is hosting the touring production of the Broadway show “The Book of Mormon” on the day of Ruckus, with shows at 2:00 and 8:00. Many parking lots in the neighborhood that you might have used in past years will not be available because of this show.

Leaving Procedure

Leaving Procedure - Cars:

1. Determine if your vehicle is blocked in by another vehicle or not. If not, thank you and have a good night!
2. If you are blocked in, please inform one of our TLC volunteers or pit admin and provide them with your parking pass number. They will inform the parking volunteers and they will work to contact the volunteers that are parked around you to see if they can move those cars.
3. Please be patient because the volunteers that you need to have moved may be involved in critical event activities and can’t drop everything to move their car.

Loud-Out Procedure for Teams

We know the load-out process at the end of the event is frustrating. We’ve made some important changes this year. Load-out order is NOT going to be based on which vehicles show up at the venue first. Please read:

• Every team MUST designate a specific individual as “Load-Out Organizer.”
• There will be a mandatory meeting at 11AM during the event of all Load-Out Organizers to go over the new procedures. The meeting will be held in the front entrance area.
• Teams are encouraged to break down their pits and pack up as soon as they are eliminated.
• Each Team’s Load-Out Organizer MUST notify pit admin when packed and ready to load-out their Team’s “stuff” to the Team’s vehicle.
• Pit Admin will verify that the team is ready to load out. If the team is ready, they will notify a member of TLC Team that a specific team is ready.
• Pit Admin and TLC Team will determine when a Team has permission to bring their vehicle to the venue.
• After permission is granted by Pit Admin, Team calls their vehicle driver to bring the vehicle from the L3Harris lot to the Armory. Please do NOT bring your Team’s vehicle to the Armory until permission is granted.
• Team vehicles that show up at the Armory but have NOT been cleared as ready by Pit Admin will be asked to return to the L3Harris lot and wait there until their team is ready.
• Teams will be directed when to queue up their “stuff” near the dock in preparation for load-out.
• The focus is on safely and efficiently loading-out all 40+ Teams. Please be patient and courteous during this process.
• When loading out, please make sure to have enough people to safely and quickly load out so that other teams and event volunteers do not have wait longer than needed.

If You Find Yourself Waiting....

It is inevitable that the load-out process for 40+ Teams will involve some waiting time. You may not know that the entire field, pit area, and everything else related to the event is disassembled and packed up at the end of the event. This tear-down and pack-up is conducted 100% by volunteers. If you’re waiting for your Team’s load-out, inquire at pit admin about how to help with the tear-down and pack-up effort. Thanks!