STORRS — UConn continues to fire shots in what has become an athletic arms race with other major universities, announcing Monday that it will move forward with plans to build a new soccer stadium, thanks to $8 million in donations from a former player. Athletic Director Warde Manuel said the school hopes to raise about $15 million for the new stadium, the latest in a string of athletic construction projects on campus. UConn on Friday will dedicate its new $40 million basketball training center. The school, which opened an on-campus football training center in 2006, also has committed to building an on-campus hockey arena and is planning new on-campus facilities for baseball and softball. “The facilities are a critical part of maintaining excellence,” said UConn President Susan Herbst. “All these sports deserve proper facilities.” Tony Rizza, a Westport investment manager, announced plans to match up to $5 million in donations for the soccer stadium, which is to be built on the footprint of the existing 5,100-seat Morrone Stadium, and will retain the name. The soccer complex, which also includes the practice field adjacent to the stadium will be named the Rizza Family Soccer Complex. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Simultaneous projects in downtown Meriden causes road closures and delays
MERIDEN — A cluster of downtown infrastructure projects have resulted in road closures and detours throughout the center of the city, but officials are pleased with the coming changes.
State Street remains closed in the northbound lane as work continues for the Meriden Hub project. The road will remain closed throughout the project. City and state officials are considering completely closing the road during construction of a new railroad station. Construction is set to begin in early November, according to Public Works Director Robert J. Bass. “It’s something that’s on the table right now,” Bass said. In the area of Colony and West Main streets, Yankee Gas workers are installing gas service to the downtown area, Bass said. Access to Colony from West Main has been sporadically closed in the last week as a result, Bass said. Gas installation is also underway on Butler Street. There are several trenches and holes that have been cut in the downtown area by Yankee Gas. The company has patched affected roads this year and plans to permanently repair them next year, Bass said. The state began paving Cook Avenue Tuesday morning. In addition to the paving work, the intersection of Cook Avenue and West Main Street has been cluttered by the city’s work to remove bump-out sidewalks and to replace the walkway. The project, which began earlier this month, is expected to be complete by mid-November. The work stretches along West Main Street from Cook Avenue to South Grove Street. Sara Owen, owner of Cafe Dolce on West Main Street, said construction has made parking downtown more difficult. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
BRISTOL — The Bristol Downtown Development Corp. on Tuesday proposed a compromise on the Depot Square project that would have the city build infrastructure but leave developer Renaissance Downtowns to finance its own Building B construction. The proposal also would open the project, on the former Bristol Centre Mall property, to other developers starting in February. It's unknown what Renaissance or its supporters think of the idea, but that's certain to become clear by the time the city council decides whether to accept the recommendation. The council's three Democrats have come out in favor of keeping Renaissance as the preferred developer for downtown, while the Republican caucus and Republican Mayor Ken Cockayne haven't been publicly advocating for or against Renaissance. The Bristol Downtown Development Corp. endorsed Renaissance's proposal known as Building B, a 140-unit apartment building with 22,000 square feet of retail space. Renaissance has previously estimated that it would cost $26 million. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Hartford will press ahead with a sweeping development plan to bring housing, retail, a brewery and a 9,000-spectator minor league ballpark to long-vacant land north of downtown. The city council approved the $350 million project Tuesday, capping four months of public debate. Six members voted in favor of the plan; three abstained. "The redevelopment of Downtown North is going to create jobs, encourage new businesses, strengthen existing ones and help grow Hartford's grand list, all things that are absolutely vital to create a healthy vibrant city," Mayor Pedro Segarra said in a statement Tuesday night. "Over the last few months, support for the project has grown exponentially and it's exciting to see everyone invested in the future of our city." Some council members hailed the project, which would bring the New Britain Rock Cats to Hartford, as a step forward for a city in need of additional revenue and a shot of vibrancy in an area that has been empty for decades.
"It is exactly a road map to how we move forward as a city," council President Shawn Wooden said at the meeting Tuesday. "There is no reward, there is no benefit, without some level of risk. ... It's appropriately risky for the return." He noted that during recent budget cycles, the council had made deep cuts to city spending. The project offers an opportunity to capture new revenue, Wooden said."It's a lot more than a lot of other people have done at city hall and in state government for a long, long time," he added. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Trench collapses on 4 workers at SCSU in New Haven; all rescued
NEW HAVEN >> Firefighters rescued two workers Tuesday morning who were trapped after a trench collapsed at a construction site on the Southern Connecticut State University campus. Two other workers were able to get out of the trench to safety before firefighters arrived at the scene at 10 Wintergreen Ave. The four workers were taken to the hospital for evaluation. A Yale-New Haven Hospital doctor from the Sponsor Hospital Area Response Physicians (SHARP) team responded to the scene and checked the workers before they were taken to the hospital New Haven Battalion Chief William Gould said the workers escaped serious injury. “We’re talking about four extremely lucky individuals,” Gould said. The workers were not university employees. Officials said they work for Connecticut Boiler Repair of West Hartford. They were replacing a corroded steam line near the West Campus Residential Complex. The walls of the trench collapsed, trapping the workers inside.
Two of the workers climbed to safety on their own, a third needed “minor assistance” from firefighters, and the fourth had to be freed using fire department equipment, the university said. The fourth worker was “trapped up to the waist by dirt,” Gould said. The workers suffered “bumps and bruises,” Gould said. The worker trapped up to his waist didn’t seem to have any broken bones and was “very, very lucky,” Gould said. New Haven firefighters and the Hamden Fire Department’s Technical Rescue Unit responded to the scene. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Industry confidence up in September
The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (the Foundation) released the September 2014 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI). Designed to collect leadership data, the index reports a qualitative assessment of both the prevailing business conditions and expectations for the future as reported by key executives from the $827 billion equipment finance sector. Overall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 60.2, an increase from the August index of 58.9. When asked about the outlook for the future, MCI-EFI survey respondent Valerie Hayes Jester, president, Brandywine Capital Associates Inc., said, “We are experiencing stronger demand than in the past several months, which bodes well for a strong fourth quarter. There is still concern for yield erosion, but we look forward to concluding the year on a positive trend.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE