Great news: the State of the State in Connecticut is optimistic! There are many new State construction projects on the horizon, and Connecticut will be building in the coming years.
The Construction Institute recently hosted its 20th annual State of the State event at Pratt & Whitney’s Hangar Museum. (If you have never been, Pratt & Whitney’s Hangar Museum is a fascinating museum full of massive jet engines produced over the years, along with a photographic history of the various aircraft to which the engines have been fitted.)
The event, included a packed house of the who’s who of the Connecticut construction industry. While Governor Malloy was unable to attend this year’s event, speakers for the State included the Commissioners for the Departments of Transportation, Energy & Environmental Protection, Housing, Construction Services, as well as UConn’s Master Planner and Chief Architect. Ron Van Winkle, a West Hartford public official also provided attendees with a comprehensive analysis and history of the construction economy in Connecticut and the Northeast as a whole. The various State Department heads all discussed significant building and renovation projects currently underway as well as those planned for future ground-breaking and ribbon-cutting ceremonies.
Some of the upcoming projects discussed by the speakers include:
- Widening of I-84 heading into Waterbury
- Constructing new nature centers and facility renovations at Connecticut’s state parks
- Building new affordable housing developments
- A continued emphasis school construction and renovation
- Endless renovation and new construction projects at UConn’s Storrs campus
In addition to the projects discussed at this event, it appears that there are several projects poised to begin in downtown Hartford. The City of Hartford is looking forward to the construction of UConn’s new Business School, at the previously abandoned Hartford Times Building of Golden-Age fame. This UConn facility will not only bring a much needed student demographic to downtown Hartford, but it will also connect the main hub of the City with the Front Street Development and the Adrian’s Landing Convention Center. Finally, the City of Hartford approved the construction of a minor league baseball stadium development, which will be constructed upon a vacant area between downtown Hartford and the North End. This will not only bring baseball back to Hartford, create new businesses and jobs, and provide additional housing, but it will serve to connect two vibrant parts of the City long cut off from each other.
Yes, the State-of-the-State is looking up, and while it does not yet appear to be firing like one of Pratt & Whitney’s famed jet engines, it does appear to be gaining altitude with each new construction project that takes off.