The proposal by the investment firm Bridgewater Associates to construct its headquarters facility in Stamford's South End has created a great deal of interest and questions about the merits of the plan, the relocation of the existing boat yard and the overall benefits of the project to Stamford.
It shouldn't be surprising that Bridgewater wants to relocate to Stamford. Stamford is a major city, with a superb quality of life that continues to attract new businesses and new residents. But Stamford is also a city of individual neighborhoods, each with their own unique history and character that their residents proudly celebrate and want to preserve.
Emergency department project positive sign for future of New Milford hospital
New Milford Hospital will receive an important shot in the arm Friday evening when a groundbreaking ceremony is held for a new $10.8 million Emergency Department.
The addition, which will be built on the west side of the hospital toward Treadwell Avenue, will provide both a practical and symbolic upgrade to the nearly 65-year-old hospital.
The current emergency room is old, cramped and inefficient, and it allows little privacy for patients. The new 11,000-square-foot emergency wing will address all of those shortcomings, including the provision of private rooms. Construction of the Arnhold Emergency Department will also help restore public faith among New Milford area residents that there will continue to be a local hospital.
Meriden kicks off massive downtown renovations
MERIDEN — Standing on a critical piece of the city’s flood control efforts Thursday, Phil Ashton recalled the 1992 flood that decimated downtown and resulted in Ashton threatening to pull Yankee Gas out of the city.“I was furious,” Ashton said, standing on the Hub and surrounded by numerous city and community officials. “You couldn’t conduct business and nobody wants to conduct business in an area that goes underwater every 10 years.”Ashton, who was the president of Cooper Street-based Yankee Gas, revealed that his threat, directed at then-Mayor Joseph Marinan Jr., was just a bluff, but it paid off. It resulted in the latest and most effective effort to solve flooding along Harbor Brook throughout the city.
The Hub is about to undergo a $13 million redevelopment, which spurred Thursday’s ceremony. Though a more extravagant event will be held early next month, the ceremony marked the beginning of the demolition of the former bank building at the corner of State and East Main streets. The building served as a bank for several different branches since being constructed close to 40 years ago.
WETHERSFIELD — The Capital Region Education Council broke ground Thursday on a permanent home for an elementary school with a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math theme.
CREC Discovery Academy, a magnet school now housed in temporary quarters on Franklin Avenue in Hartford, will eventually serve capital region pre-kindergartners through fifth graders. The school focuses on STEM education, which experts say is vital to the jobs of the 21st century."Our goal is to create the math and science leaders of the future, and that's what we'll do at this school," CREC General Director & Superintendent of Schools Dina Crowl told a crowd of parents, students, administrators and government officials. Oma Ezegbo of Bloomfield, whose 7-year-old son Chieme attends CREC Discovery Academy, was ecstatic to see construction begin. The current facility lacks athletic fields for soccer, which her son loves, and other amenities, she said.