Luca Brasi

That could easily be one of the worst terminals at any major airport in the US. Look at that men's room..! I mentioned before that I picked up an out of town associate from the airport and as we drove by the abandoned terminal, he commented on how it looked like the Soviet Union.

Whoever planned the parade dropped the ball. The parade should have gone by the businesses/restaurants on Main and then Asylum benefitting those two corridors and also Pratt and Trumbull. The existing paarde route doesn't do much for businesses downtown at all. I know a few business owners who felt it wouldn't be worth opening. It was great seeing 200,000 people downtown... it would have better if they were in the heart of downtown.

I'm willing to bet on it VoR Another nice thing about the state offices moving downtown is that the apartment conversions will start on Elm and Trinity Sts. The architectural drawings are already done. 55 Elm is one of my favorite buildings in the city.

I was told this project will start within two weeks

If it is the brewery (and it sounds like it is) Im sure they are thinking of the exposure they can get by offering visiting conventioneers tours and samples. A full scale brewery and restaurant in this location that offers tours is a home run. Within a block of the convention center, guests have the choice of a science museum, a movie theater, a concert hall, a world class art museum and possibly a brewery to add to restaurants and bars in the area. That's not bad at all.

Whoever the tenant is that is necessitating building on Columbus must need a LOT of space because there are still spaces available at Front St. and new retail spaces coming at both the Times building and the new apartment building.

I know there has been talk of UConn building an additional building in that spot. The only other possibility I can think of is the Thomas Hooker brewery. I agree with what others have said here... why not a mixed use building that incorporates more hotel rooms and apartments?

I REALLY want to see something happen (as I'm sure we all would) at 3 Constitution Plaza. The hole in the ground and the temporary fencing is an eyesore to anyone coming into the city from the East. It really makes CP look awful.... and its been 4 years. Unfortunately, I hear this project is dead.

I know financing was competed and they were supposed to break ground in the fall. I was over there yesterday and a backhoe is tearing up the blacktop and Front St. Is closed.

I was talking to some people in zoning and they were telling me that the Downtown Marriott does very well. If this is the case then it's time for another hotel in this area to start attracting bigger conventions. And I can't think of a better space than the surface lot right in front of the CC to continue the street wall down Columbus. Thomas Hooker Brewery and restaurant would be a very nice ground floor tenant of a boutique hotel.

A UConn bookstore / coffee shop (assuming UConn will take the Times space) that sold UConn and Whaler gear would be a nice fit in the apartment building retail

I drove by the Colt Building today and the old home office building which is right next to the armory is completely gutted and had an entire construction team with heavy equipment working on the entire building. When the heck did this happen??? It seems like it happened overnight... does anyone know what is planned for this building? Its the building on the right in the picture below:

I heard a seafood restaurant and a brewpub. Didn't ask how close they were but that is who is in the mix right now.

I heard today that two new retail tenants are very close...

The Atheneum is the oldest public art museum in the US and its collection is certainly one of the most impressive in the country. The idea for using City Hall as another museum was floated a few years back, but never really materialized. Its a fantastic idea I forgot about. If 90% of the Atheneun's collection is not on display, that is just a waste! Imagine "The Wadsworth Museum of American Art" or "The New England Museum of Modern Art" right next door to the existing Atheneum at what is now City Hall. And while we are at it, why not move MDC out of their already museum-looking building and use it for "The Mueseum of US Political History" of which the entire collection has been in storage for years for lack of a home. Its a quality collection and biggest of its kind that used to be housed at The University of Hartford. Then (along withState House Square) you would have four quality museum spaces within two blocks on Main St. The area next to the MDC building, the vacant outdoor platform space could be used as a public space/sculpture garden. And lets not forget about the impressive Colt collection of firearms that is split up in three different places that deserves a proper home for the public to enjoy.

The Atheneum has something like half of their permanent collection in storage or on loan to other museums. Years back they were planning a huge expansion to house these unseen works, but due to a shortage of funds, had to cancel. It would be outstanding if they could in some way build another museum to be part of this whole area. Maybe as part of of Phase 3 at the old Hartford Times building.

What a shame ESPN is not a part of this

I heard today from someone in zoning that financing for the first housing component at Front St. is a done deal. Look for an announcement soon on a new apartment building next to the Elks Club.

Well here it is... the story regarding a new car rental facility, new parking garage and new Terminal B at Bradley that will bring us 19 new gates. This terminal would be even larger than the existing Terminal A. Completion date is 2018. Why does everything take soooo long around here??? http://www.courant.c...,0,740599.story

I hope the plan is still to use the old Hartford Times facade as the entrance to the highrise apartments. The pillars and mosaics would make a grand entrance to any residential building.

If I remember correctly, The proposed Griffin line was light rail that ran from Bradley to downtown ending under the existing Convention Center. It was a no-brainer then and even more so now that the Convention Center was built. Conventions are booked on availability and convenience and what better way to sell conventions when you can step off your flight and get on a train that lets you off at your hotel/convention center?I picked up some business associates at Bradley a couple months ago and they said the empty Terminal B looked like it was straight out of the Soviet Union.

Agreed. I hope I am wrong, but there is a stigma attached to riding city busses everywhere and I don't think this will be any different. I also thought that these busway stations would be enclosed. Looking at the website they clearly are not. Of course the renderings show nice summer days... what commuter is going to wait in sub freezing temperatures or inclement weather at these outdoor stops?

At one point I asked someone with the city why we didn't just buy trains and use existing rails rather than pave them over. He told me it would be virtually impossible without raising the tracks above existing roads (he pointed out the intersections like we see at Flatbush, Hamilton, etc.) because with trains running every 10 minutes at peak, you would virtually stop traffic constantly at rush hour which would be disastrous.

Can we make an "In Progress" thread for the busway project now that construction has started? Recently I would pass the corner of Park and Francis or the corner of New Park and Flatbush and saw work crews clearing these spaces and would wonder what was going on. I never made the connection that construction was getting ready for busway stations. I guess because I am not a fan of this project, I never really followed it and because of it, never made the connection. And can someone explain something to me? I thought the whole concept of this project was to pave over existing rail lines.. is that still happening? Because when you go to the CT Fastrak website http://www.ctfastrak.com/index.php/en and look at the site plans, it shows the busway as a paved road NEXT to existing Amtrack lines which are still obviously in use.

Any building over 50 years old can apply... and yes they did get it.