Jump to content

The Park River


MadVlad

Recommended Posts


  • Replies 35
  • Created
  • Last Reply

arch.jpg

Look how beautiful the river is running throughBushnell Park before it was buried in a conduit under the park. Not many people know the Arch was originally a bridge over the river. Today, you can seethe very tops of the arches that spanned the river.

The Park River also runs directly under the Conlan Whitehead Highway to the Connecticut River.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

arch.jpg

Look how beautiful the river is running throughBushnell Park before it was buried in a conduit under the park. Not many people know the Arch was originally a bridge over the river. Today, you can seethe very tops of the arches that spanned the river.

The Park River also runs directly under the Conlan Whitehead Highway to the Connecticut River.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Beautiful picture! I think it would be great if they could uncover the Park River.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Call it the Hog River if you must. As I walked along Bushnell Park eariler this month, I began to speculate on the small pond near the northest corner. Couldn't this pond be expanded to the West. It could go under the bridge portion of the Soldiers and Sailors Arch. It could continue to the railroad bridge. In effect, that would return the Park River to Bushnell Park, without actually having to unbury the river.

riverpcard.jpg

This scene from the an earilier century would pretty much return as as it was. By following this plan the desired effect would be achieved without the cost of a huge civic engineering project.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Call it the Hog River if you must.  As I walked along Bushnell Park eariler this month, I began to speculate on the small pond near the northest corner.  Couldn't this pond be expanded to the West.  It could go under the bridge portion of the Soldiers and Sailors Arch.  It could continue to the railroad bridge.  In effect, that would return the Park River to Bushnell Park, without actually having to unbury the river.

riverpcard.jpg

This scene from the an earilier century would pretty much return as as it was.  By following this plan the desired effect would be achieved without the cost of a huge civic engineering project.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Make the Park whole by getting rid of the road that goes thru the Arch thus cuts the Park into two halfs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The pond in Bushnell Park is actually part of the original channel that wasn't filled in. The river now flows almost straight as an arrow through conduits closer to Elm Street.

I would propose digging a channel through the park mimicking the original route. It would be fed from the conduit at the western side of the park and merge again near Pulaski Circle at the eastern end. The conduit would be used parallel to the open channel, regulating and filtering the water flow.

This idea is actually part of a larger concept that I have worked on.

The image below includes part of this channel.

557parkrivernew.jpg

The original photo from where I superimposed the above concept.

557parkriverold.jpg

A site plan that includes a possible course for the Park River. (shows the western side of the park.)

557bushnellparkwest.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unfortunately, that would never happen. A lot of people would never go for taking the park land and creating a hotel, apartments, a campus, etc. I think there are city ordinances now regarding uses of park land, and I'm sure private development isn't among them. However, I do love your moxie, and I really do look forward to when you post, Bill.....

Wait a minute, after looking again, I think that I'm 100% wrong and that no current park land would be lost. How about putting a Space Needle at the other end of the Promenade at Farmington Avenue? ; )

Also, you'd still need the exit from 84 East to Asylum Ave., people would be pissed if they had to drive around the Capitol to get to that part of Downtown...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How about putting a Space Needle at the other end of the Promenade at Farmington Avenue? ; )

What would you think about the block bordered by Farmington Avenue, Asylum Place, Asylum Avenue and Broad Street? An underground parking garage occupies this site, which I think has more potential. It would have been forward thinking if they built this garage to support a structure on top in the future.

How high do you envision the Space Needle? There may be some concern of overshadowing the Capitol Building. The effect may be lessened if it was erected (to the northwest) on the site over the garage.

No matter what you do, someone will get pissed. You can come up with something that will overall improve the vitality of a city, and the person who benefitted by having that exit in front of their office all these years will get pissed.

I was thinking the dual pronged exit was needed to supplement the poor street pattern around this huge block. Look how you would need to circumnavigate your way around this block to drive between Union Place and the State Capitol. Improved circulation provided by city streets breaking up this block would help eliminate the need for the exessive ramps. Why have the extra ramps doing what an improved street pattern can accomplish?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mmmm, I see your point, but I think that an off-ramp going directly to Union Place was a good idea to start with. How about if that part of the exit was also tunneled and it still ended up in the same spot?

Also, the spot you suggested for the Space Needle would indeed be a better place for it, but I'm not sure if it's large enough area-wise to fit the base that would be needed. As far as height, I was thinking about 600ft or so. That's high ground anyways, so 600ft from that would make it pretty impressive, it would also give it the height to see beyond CityPlace and the Goodwin (while not being able to see directly over, it would still have the right angle to see past, I believe). Great view from that spot, direct view of the Capitol, decent view of the river, probably Springfield on a good day, probably not New Haven though. Also have a great view of the hills rolling out to the west...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mmmm, I see your point, but I think that an off-ramp going directly to Union Place was a good idea to start with. How about if that part of the exit was also tunneled and it still ended up in the same spot?

I do have an earlier version like that.

Some of my earliest versions have a street (Boulevard) connecting where the highway meets Capitol Avenue and running north to Asylum Street at Union Station (or Spruce Street). I dubbed it Oak Street because it would align with Oak Street on the other side of Capitol Avenue. I envisioned this street giving a finished edge to the west side of the park. The highway exit would meet this street halfway between Capitol and Asylum. In addition, Elm Street would be extended (tunneling under the hill) to meet the highway straight on. Notice how the tree- named (Oak, Elm, Spruce) streets come together in this plan.

When I can, I would like to post some of these alternate ideas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bill,

This very crude drawing is what I propose. The dark blue is the existing pond. The light blue is the pond expansion. It would return the bridge portion of the Soldiers and Sailors Arch to it's original glory.

It has the advantage of being quite inexpensive compared to some other ideas to return water to the park. Alas no space needle.

mapbush3.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

I saw that article and accompanying diagram on Sunday. Its a start...

The plan creates three useful ponds in Bushnell park following the old path of the Park River. And it allows the Park River to be brought back at the Conlan Whithead Highway in the future.

Since this has been proposed by the MDC and is actually functional, it looks like it might happen. Hopefully, they will be fully landscaped and be hospitable to water fowl and koi. It would definitely be a draw for people.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does it restore the bridge on the north side of the Soldiers and Sailors Arch? They doen't mention it and that is a very nice feature.

"The first pond would be dug next to the fountain, approximately along the historic route of the Park River. Clean, sparkling water would then flow from the pond via gravity drains under Trumbull Street and resurface in the existing pond near the carousel, which would be fresher for having water run through it."

I think that means the first pond by the fountain will be connected to the existing one by underground conduits instead of actually flowing visibly under the arch...too bad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.