On Tuesday, September 25, the State Bond Commission allocated
bond authorizations for numerous projects, including several
in Hartford. The projects cover a wide range of activities, including
construction, job training and historical restoration and will
effect neighborhoods throughout the city. They include:
$4 million for construction of the Montessori Building Blocks
Magnet School on Vernon Street (part of Trinity College's Learning
Corridor).
$3 million for costs associated with the construction of the
Capital Region Job Corps Center, which will be built in the new
Charter Oak Business Park on the site of the old Charter Oak
Terrace housing project. The center will provide education and
vocational training to disadvantaged people ages 16-24.
$2 million for construction of the Southside Neighborhood Institutions
Alliance's new sports complex, which will include an ice skating
rink. This complex would also be part of the Learning Corridor
project.
$2 million to provide loans, grants and/or extensions of credit
to businesses from the City of Hartford Department of Economic
and Community Development.
$1.8 million to the Lincoln-National Corporation to provide job
training for 550 former CIGNA employees who are being relocated
to Hartford from Bloomfield.
$1 million to the Spanish American Merchants Association to finance
a revolving loan program for small and minority-owned businesses,
primarily in the Park Street, Frog Hollow and South Green neighborhoods
of Hartford.
$250,000 for funding of a Nuisance Abatement program in the City
of Hartford.
$221,475 to Tabor House for the purchase and renovation of a
three-unit home that will serve as housing for six women with
HIV/AIDS. The funding will also be used to make minor repairs
to Tabor House's residence for men with HIV/AIDS.
$186,500 for alteration and renovation of the buildings and grounds
at Hartford Public Schools
$150,000 to buy a van to be used as a mobile dental clinic for
schools that don't have on-site dental care.
$100,000 for restoration and abatement of hazardous materials
at the Elizabeth Park greenhouse. The facility is approximately
100 years old.
$50,000 for a playscape at Sigourney Park. The total cost of
the playscape is estimated at $402,000. The balance of the funding
will come from other sources, including the City of Hartford
Park Trust Fund.
$30,000 for restoration of grave markers at the Ancient Burying
Ground in downtown Hartford at the corner of Main and Gold Streets.
The Burying Ground contains approximately 400 old gravestones
and is on both the National and State Registry of Historic Places.
