mikel

I don't think should the city turn down state money to develop empty land. But we have enough empty storefronts. We need housing. This area is disconnected from the rest of downtown, and stores need to be close to each other to attract shoppers. That parking garage the library built recently (as well as the ugly renovation) will go down as another crazy mistake. The focus should be to develop the tract of land on Asylum and Main that Bank of America tore down for that absurd skyscraper if we want to attract retail density. This project just seems like a blunder. The focus should be to regain what was lost downtown, intentionally, by replacing homes with parking lots and using state money to fund the shopping malls and highways that lead to them. Front Street never looked like an Evergreen Walk lifestyle center and it never would have worked if it did.

Maybe I'm more dissapointed in this than I thought.

No money was wasted. Free market forces have determined only new housing developments and chain store strip malls are the only profitable development. Despite the fact that the project did not happen, the fact that government resources were redirected to promote smart growth and urban development instead of sprawl is well worth the black eye. When the market recovers, instead of seeing a new Buckland Mall and more sprawl, the cities of Connecticut will get the projects and funding. Rowland in some ways did a lot of good.

Tal about rose-colored glasses. There is absolutely nothing reasonable about DOT's headquarters. Add to that the fact that it was built somewhere inaccessible to mass transit shows the organization's complete lack of vision and ineptitude. I've seen some poorly run and poorly operating entities before, but ConnDOT really takes the cake. As for mass transit systems, Pittsburgh, Portland, Buffalo, Sacramento, and Memphis all opened up light rail systems in the 1980's or early 90's, off the top of my head. There is no end to the amount of blame ConnDOT should have in setting back the Hartford region way behind where it should be. Also, the HOV lanes and the over-reaching design of I-84 are complete failures and I find it hard anyone would believe otherwise.

In case anyone was wondering... The bridge was the Hoadley Memorial Bridge at the end of Mulberry Street in Bushnell Park. Mulberry Street was erased by the Bushnell Towers/MDC complex. http://www.cthistoryonline.org/cdm-cho/ite...p;x=76&y=75 The cupola to the left was the Heublein Hotel. You can clearly figure out where the picture is shot in this drawing. http://www.cthistoryonline.org/cdm-cho/ite...BOX=1&REC=1 Two structures that met a very premature demise... and that made Hartford the beautiful place it once WAS.

I noticed workers polishing up the Trumbull St. facade this week. All the doors were worked on as well. This may be a continuation of the work Northland did recently on the Pratt St. storefronts or I hope it's something more.

Too bad they tore down most of the Hartford Times building. At this point, they just reforest that area. Anyone have pictures of the Hartford Times building and everything else there before demolition began??

A new arena could help rejuvenate downtown retail (mass transit and housing would be much more effective though). However, it would do absolutely nothing to solve the problems of other neighborhoods. If you have any clue about Hartford, you'd know that downtown and the bad neighborhoods have as much a connection to each other in regards to these problems as Simsbury and the North End. It is night and day and problems spill over just as infrequently.

Who cares about the cars? Every event at the Civic Center, the masses drive down Trumbull Street, causing gridlock because Mapquest or whatever tells all them that's the road to drive down. There is no way to stop all these morons from taking the same one street. Closing Church Street to vehicles would have no impact whatsoever on daily traffic, there is plenty of room where I-84 is to route traffic. The event crowds will just flood another street, while people familiar with the city will go a different way. It might as well be closed to pedestrians already with its current design between Trumbull and Ann. And the loss of the homely Church Street Garage will not be missed.

ConnDOT's history precedes it. When it wasn't micromanaged and when it was over-funded, it built things like it's shameful sprawling Berlin Turnpike headquarters, under-utilized HOV lanes based on a fallacy that it would make people suddenly want to carpool, despite the addition of more regular lanes to make the idea useless, and I-84 in East Hartford with its 12 embarrassing lanes. They have always been anti-mass transit. At the same time, other American cities were building light rail.

I hope you don't believe it's the environmental issue that's really holding this project back.

It's amazing how after high-profile accidents in Avon and Lyme, a runaway-truck ramp and new jersey barriers, respectively, were put in place almost immediately. And there's no progress here. I seriously suspect corruption or incompetence. If this rail line was in place this year (the year of gas price reality) like it originally was supposed to, people would be lauding this state for being ahead. Instead, the DOT and the state just are pathetic.

They are a big box store. West Hartford probably gave them enough of an incentive to stay out of Hartford. It's a shame how in this region each town screws each other and the big chain stores win.

Just someone's idea from the PVACR. http://pvacr.blogspot.com/

There is no reason to stall development in Hartford because it's not a grand lifestyle center, even though I'm doubting I'll see anything built there soon. And I invite you to visit Boston's new convention center... there is absolutely nothing around it except office buildings, parking lots, and a Silver Line stop that heads to the middle of Boston. Those people need a quick and easy way to the center of Hartford if they want to shop or dine.

The whole project should be dumped... get a condo/townhouse developer to build a new neighborhood full of professionals. Three story townhouses would work fine there. A few shops can go in between, like there were in the area before, a lifestyle center is not needed. Just get some people living there. Develop the retail where retail has traditionally been, on Main, Asylum, Pratt, Trumbull etc, where out-of-towners can take mass transit to so the project won't be dominated by parking.

Am I reading this stuff correctly? Burberry, Versace, Armani, Tiffany's? First of all, there are a billion better ways to help downtown retail than a new arena. A new arena's effect would be minimal, the prime of downtown retail was before the Hartford Civic Center existed, and many retailers closed while the Whalers were still here. UConn games are not huge boons to retail either, and a new arena isn't going to add to that crowd. As far as Tiffany's, Becker's and to a larger extent Lux Bond and Green tried to maintain locations downtown and weren't supported. Why in the world would anyone want or expect Tiffany's to be here? As far as the other stores, Stackpole Moore Tryon carries Burberry and would carry any other brand if the demand was there. Of course, if it's not a chain store or a skyscraper, this forum will largely not care about it.

Some of the largest and most-vibrant cities in the world have stores that do not open on Sundays. This is especially beneficial for local businesses. I would have no problem avoiding buying groceries or socks or alcohol or whatever on a Sunday. I'm not sure if a city that wants to be 24/7 should be discouraging businesses from locating here because they have to stay open longer than they want.

If you guys want a new arena you should fill the current one for Obama on Monday.

Yes that would guarantee those lots would remain empty forever. Great idea. Hartford's age of skyscapers is over thankfully. I would say implement a MAXIMUM of 5 stories. Also, the tunnel idea....

The logic is that modernist (and brutalist) structures are unloved at the moment. Just like non-modernist buildings were unloved and destroyed like crazy from WWII until recently. I wonder if 20 or 30 years from now people will be bemoaning the removal of the Hartford Civic Center mall. Maybe they'd think just because it was not exactly filled at the time, it didn't mean it would always be so empty. Maybe they will miss all the seating and interesting concrete formations that were removed for Northland's project. Perhaps people will miss it like they miss Front Street, remembering the good times shopping and being there. People seem to miss the Boston Garden more now than they did when the excitement of the new Fleet Center still existed. These new generic corporate arenas with their wider seats, lack of slope, and luxury boxes everywhere aren't an improvement to me.

Nice job grock with the scoop. There are definitely some big plans in the horizon... I'm shocked the I-91 tunnel idea has gathered so much steam...

That picture is laughable. Oh the late 90's in Connecticut, so silly.