BRIDGEPORT – City residents and businesses have heard it all before. The Park City is going to be reborn as a destination not only for the state but for those outside Connecticut.
In 2008 the master plan of conservation and development for Bridgeport talked about a “missing piece of the puzzle” for that rebirth. The report – “Bridgeport 2020-A vision for the future”— was put together during the administrations of Mayors John Fabrizi and Bill Finch. It stated the missing piece is people who will occupy downtown during day and evening hours, taking advantage of entertainment and cultural offerings, spending money and generating activity on Downtown streets.”
The belief was that enhancing downtown’s image by making it both home and destination would benefit the city of Bridgeport as a whole. People from outside the city would come to downtown for entertainment and recreation, and experience through restaurants, nightlife and culture.
So, some 17 years later you have to ask current Mayor Joe Ganim if the city has made any progress on attracting people to live downtown. According to the eight-term mayor, the answer is an emphatic “Yes!”
Ganim made a point of backing up his optimism for the Park City by delivering his annual State of the City address sponsored by the Bridgeport Regional Business Council at the Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater Thursday, May 29. He considers the transformation of the former minor league Harbor Yards ballpark into a successful concert venue his crown jewel to lay claim to Bridgeport becoming the arts & entertainment capital of the state.
“When it comes to housing development in downtown Bridgeport, we’re making substantial progress,” the mayor said. “As we do, I’m mindful of the fact that because of this high demand for housing and short supply, housing has become so unaffordable for so many here in Fairfield County. So, we have prioritized as part of this affordable housing because of this throughout the city.”
He was so focused on creating more housing, especially of the affordable variety, that last year he signed an executive order directing city departments to work towards a goal of constructing 5,000 new housing units through the year 2030.
He recited a list of housing projects that have either opened, under construction, or are proposed. They include:
- The August at Steelpointe Harbor (420 units; 160 workforce housing)
- Downtown North (100 units on Congress plaza)
- Former gas company across from M&T Bank (Soundview Apartments, 120 units)
- Former AT&T building (80 units that will include an art gallery and rooftop restaurant)
- Fairfield Residence (60 units)
- Crescent Crossing on East Side (85 units of mixed-income housing)
- Renovation of the old Waltersville School (70 units)
- Woodwind Commons on the South End (51 units)
Stratford Chamber of Commerce chair Bob David, who introduced Ganim at the address, emphasized the importance of housing and hotel development in downtown Bridgeport.
“As the financial position of the city improves greatly, the city is experiencing development under the mayor’s leadership,” David said. “That includes housing and hotel developments at Steele Point, and a number of housing developments across the city aimed at meeting the high demands of our region.”
As a stream of videos played on the big TV screens, Ganim asked the audience of government and business leaders to look around at all the development. He made a special mention of the smokestack. “I advice you to take a picture of that monstrosity now because a year from now it will all be gone,” he said.
“The August (at Steelpointe) is now rising out of the ground,” he added. “Four-hundred-and-twenty new waterfront housing units, 160 of which are set aside for workforce housing, 10,000 square feet of retail and other amenities with public access to the waterfront. And this summer BLD (Steelpointe) will also break ground on a new 152-room Marriott hotel. This is just the beginning phase of $620 million in development that will literally transform that site.”
As for the candy cane smokestack, the iconic landmark is due for demolition on Sept. 29 right after the Soundside Music Festival concludes.
Arts & Entertainment Capital
Just days before Gov. Ned Lamont, Oak View Group, and PeoplesBank executives announced a naming rights deal for the former Hartford Civic Center, Ganim made the following boast: “We are gaining a reputation statewide as the arts and entertainment capital of Connecticut.”
He thanked the success of the amphitheater for that as they have sold hundreds of thousands of tickets to concerts over the past five years.
And then there is the proposed soccer stadium planned for Bridgeport’s East Side.
“We have another amazing entertainment opportunity in front of us, which is being aggressively pursued by Andre Swanston,” Ganim said. “Last year he announced that Bridgeport’s East Side would be the home of a new MLS Next Pro called CT United. This soccer stadium development is planned to include 1,000 units of housing, another hotel, public park, another commercial and retail development.”
