Larson calls Pratt decision 'a major blow'

Press release from U.S. Rep. John Larson, the East Hartford Democrat whose 1st District includes Bristol:

Congressman Larson’s Statement on Pratt & Whitney Plant Closure Decision

Hartford, CT- U.S. Congressman John B. Larson (CT-01) released the following statement on Pratt &Whitney’s decision to close the Cheshire Engine Center and the East Hartford-based Connecticut Airfoil Repair Operations:

“I am deeply disappointed by today’s announcement. It’s a major blow to our state’s manufacturing industry, Connecticut’s economy, and most importantly, to the hard working men and women of Pratt & Whitney. I still believed that a compromise that would have saved these jobs in Connecticut could have been achieved between Pratt & Whitney, the Machinists Union and the state of Connecticut.

“During my tenure in Congress, I have worked with the Connecticut delegation to preserve manufacturing jobs in Connecticut by securing critical federal funding to continue the production of Pratt & Whitney’s engines, and by protecting important military programs like the F-35 and C-17. This delegation in Washington, time and time again, has worked and voted in favor of the best interests of the machinists and employees of Pratt & Whitney. It is disappointing that at the end of the day, the interests of shareholders, and not the years of hard work and sacrifice by these employees, motivated the company’s final decision.

“I will continue to fight for the Connecticut worker and to protect Connecticut jobs. Through the bold action of our President and this Congress, our nation has begun to climb out of the cavernous economic hole that we faced a little more than a year ago. I will continue to make the economy my number one priority.”

*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Pratt & Whitney move to cost 79 jobs for Bristol residents

Among the thousand people that Pratt & Whitney plans to lay off in Connecticut are 79 Bristol residents, according to Mayor Art Ward.

The mayor told me awhile back that the Mum City is home to 79 of the employees who would lose their jobs if the Cheshire factory is shut down and some operations in East Hartford are also transfered elsewhere.

So the misery spreads.

*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Obama zings blogosphere, loves newspapers

President Barack Obama is a newspaper junkie who's worried that blogs could one day rule the media world.

"Journalistic integrity, you know, fact-based reporting, serious investigative reporting, how to retain those ethics in all these different new media and how to make sure that it's paid for, is really a challenge," Obama told The Toledo Blade. "But it's something that I think is absolutely critical to the health of our democracy."

"I am concerned that if the direction of the news is all blogosphere, all opinions, with no serious fact-checking, no serious attempts to put stories in context, that what you will end up getting is people shouting at each other across the void but not a lot of mutual understanding," Obama told the paper.

Go read the full story in The Blade. I'm sure it needs the money -- and since it's still employing our old publisher, Joe Zerbey, you're either helping him out a little or helping to make sure he doesn't come back, depending on how you want to look at it.

*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Rockwell Park revived

For generations of children, Rockwell Park‘s lagoon, playground, fields and forest offered a daily setting for fun and adventure.
Thousands of people poured in on hot summer days to cool off in the spring-fed waters, frolic on the beach and enjoy the West End park donated by industrialist Albert Rockwell in 1914.
Despite its designation on the National Register of Historic Places, the rustic park fell into disrepair and crowds dwindled in recent decades, to the point that many young people in town didn’t even know how to find it.
But that is no longer true.
Beginning with the opening of a $500,000 skatepark there last fall, and spurred by this year’s overhaul of the playground area, the park is suddenly thriving again.
Though a $7 million renovation is still underway – the lagoon is next up for an overhaul – the project’s success is already obvious. A dying park has come alive.

Origins
Enriched by the New Departure Manufacturing Co. that he helped create, Rockwell donated 80 acres to the city in 1914 to create a park that would give the city’s blue collar workers a chance to commune with nature.
The only strings attached were a requirement that Bristol pump $15,000 or more into developing the park and that it spend at least $3,000 annually to keep it up. Another 15 acres, and a pile of cash, followed to create and endow Mrs. Rockwell’s Playground.
What resulted became such a jewel of urban park design that it secured national recognition more than a quarter of a century ago.

Heyday
Former Mayor Frank Nicastro, who grew up near Rockwell Park, said he remember the park “was the center of activity for every child and adult in the West End and beyond.”
Even on cold winter days, he said, “everybody came together for ice skating.”
Nicastro recalls summertime as a whirl of swimming, buying frozen fudge bars, hiking in the woods, playing baseball, clambering on the playground equipment and generally spending every available minute at the park.
He said the place was a hive of action except when the lifeguards closed down the swimming for an hour at noon so all the children could go home for lunch.
“I love Rockwell Park. It means everything to me,” said Nicastro, who has three large oil paintings of the park hanging in his house that capture the park at its busiest.

Decay
But a long, slow decay set in, punctuated by the decision to fill in much of the lagoon with debris from the urban renewal projects downtown, a move meant to control flooding. That buried the old island and left a large field where much of the lagoon had been, though a large expanse of water remained even afterward.
By the late 1980s, some parking lots had been blocked off after police found a few gay men using them as meeting spots. It didn’t matter too much because so few people went to the park anyway, mostly just dog walkers and youngsters hanging out.
It’s hard to pinpoint the low point in the park’s history, but it probably occurred in the summer of 1998 when at least several dozen daring swimmers and beachgoers who braved the algae-choked lagoon came down with a mysterious rash.
Though experts never knew for sure what caused it, there was little doubt that it had something to do with the goose droppings on the sand and the lack of movement in the soupy green water.
For health officials, the decision was clear: they banned swimming in the lagoon. The following summer, the city drained the legendary swimming hole.

Fumbles
The city’s leaders never gave up on the park. They just didn’t know what to do to revive it.
Studies determined that nothing much could be done to reopen the lagoon because the watershed that once provided the flow that kept it cool and clear no longer existed – the same reason the health department closed off the historic spring just west of the beach in the mid-1990s, where residents had filled drinking jugs for many years.
In 1997, the park department flirted with putting a football stadium in the open expanse between the lagoon and the pond, an idea that residents decried and finance officials quickly stifled. They later eyed a cinderblock gymnasium near the entrance to the park, another idea that fell victim to fiscal concerns.
Early in this decade, park officials even considered wiping out the remnants of the lagoon to create a $2 million swimming pool, a move that historic preservationists crushed.
But officials and concerned residents could see that the park was falling apart and that with every passing year, fewer people bothered to go there at all.
Its playground was antiquated and perhaps unsafe. Its swimming consisted only of a tiny training pool. Its walkways were dark and decaying. Its future seemed at least uncertain and possibly bleak.
“It just seemed like it was spiraling in the wrong direction,” said former city Councilor Ellen Zoppo.

Revival
The turnaround began with the construction of a new pool in Mrs. Rockwell’s Playground six years ago. That attracted swimmers again, though nowhere near the crowds that senior citizens remembered.
And a park revitalization effort led by a determined city councilor, Zoppo, supported by Mayor Gerard Couture, decided that fixing Rockwell Park had to be a top city priority.
Couture said it saddened him to see the park deteriorate so he jumped at the chance to renovate it.
“He deserves as much credit as anybody,” Zoppo said.
At first, the $7 million park overhaul designed by the Cheshire-based Milone & MacBroom was going to be paid mostly with state cash, but when the state spigot ran dry, city leaders opted to press forward anyway. They said repairing the park was important enough to use municipal money if that’s what it took.
So a few years ago, the work got underway, with the first spruced up sections opening last year, particularly the stunningly successful skatepark that drew rave reviews from the skateboarders and bikers who couldn’t imagine Bristol erecting a topnotch facility that has proven to have regional appeal.
Next year, the lagoon area should be restored, though without a beach and where no swimming will be allowed.
A portion of it is slated to be a swamp so residents can see birds and other creatures that should thrive there up close, more educational than the frolic of older days.
But what’s already clear is, that after a decade of doubt, Rockwell Park is on the rebound.
“It’s just teeming with life,” Zoppo said Saturday. “The taxpayers got their money’s worth.”
Rockwell Park won’t ever be like it was, but it’s increasingly possible it may emerge as something even better.

*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Skateboarders still loving the new skatepark

As the city’s skatepark nears its first birthday, it’s still drawing large crowds and rave reviews.
“I always thought Bristol was a loser town until it did this,” said Jeremy Johnson, 17.
Johnson, a skateboarder, said there was “nothing to do” in town until the $500,000 skatepark opened last November at Rockwell Park.
“Now we just come here,” he said. “I have to say that it’s really nice.”
The 16,000-square-foot skatepark, built by California Skateparks, took seven years to come to fruition, the result of pressure from young people and an awareness of the need spurred by ESPN’s X Trials at Lake Compounce in 2001.
Skateboard legend Tony Hawk and other professional extreme athletes told The Tattoo’s teen journalists at the time that Bristol should have its own skatepark, an idea that resonated with young people in town.
Though the new skatepark has had its controversies – too much swearing, too much trash and perhaps too many lawsuits – officials are generally happy that it’s proven so successful.
Former city Councilor Ellen Zoppo said Saturday the skatepark is frequently busy and those using it are reasonably well-behaved.
“They look like they’re having fun,” said city Councilor Ken Cockayne.
Zoppo said her only real regret about it is that the skatepark couldn’t be done sooner, which left most of the young athletes who first called for it out of luck.
Cockayne said a few injury claims have been filed with the city and passed on for its insurance company to pay or deny. But it doesn’t appear the skatepark has created any serious liability issues.
What it has done for sure, though, is vastly reduce the number of skateboarders congregating illegally on private property downtown.
Cockayne said he rarely sees that anymore.
“What you really need to tell people,” said Liam Nelson, 15, “is that this park is great. I don’t know who to thank for it, but tell everybody thank you for building it.”

*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

RockWELL brings out a crowd

A steady stream of visitors turned out for Saturday’s RockWELL in the Park family fitness festival.
“We’ve had a great day,” said Cindy Scoville, a Greater Bristol Chamber of Commerce organizer who helped keep it humming.
With a variety of booths from groups that ranged from Bristol Hospital to the New Britain Rock Cats, there was something to keep most everyone entertained.
“It’s a beautiful day, a nice event and a good chance to see what they’ve done here with this old park,” said Linda Mason, who said she hasn’t seen Rockwell Park so busy in years.
The six-hour long event offered plenty of information on fitness and nutrition along with the activities that mostly catered to children. People snapped up the freebies, too, including water bottles and jar openers.
Rocky the Rock Cat posed for pictures with anyone willing to whip out a camera and even posed beside somebody in a tiny Dole Pineapple outfit.
Sponsored by the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce and co-sponsored by a number of businesses and organizations, the free event probably drew at least a couple of thousand people during the day, city officials said.
“We had a tremendous turnout,” said Mike Nicastro, who heads the chamber.
Dean “HB” Vitale, a 16-year-old rhythm and blues singer from Wallingford, sounded smooth as silk. He drew an appreciate crowd to the portable stage at the far end of the playground early in the day.
“Wow, that guy’s good,” Richard Williams, 20, said. “He might really be a star someday.”
Later, a Torrington competitive jump rope team showed some amazing quickness and versatility.
“I had fun,” said 8-year Amber Kucharski. “I never knew people could jump rope like that.”

*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Rockwell Park

I'll be checking things out at the big family fun and fitness event at Rockwell Park today. If you see me, say hey.

*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

State has money for new softball fields

After all the fuss and bother of this year's budget showdown, it was surprising to me to see the State Bond Commission, whose agenda is set by Gov. Jodi Rell, is planning next week to approve $110,000 to construct softball fields at technical schools in Torrington and Willimantic.
I'm sure the fields would be nice -- heck, they may even be required for some reason -- but now?
Bristol, by the way, has exactly one project singled out in the bond commission agenda. Its technical school is getting $10,000 to fix some plumbing.

*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Dodd campaign hits 'new low,' Simmons charges

I learned a new word today thanks to the Rob Simmons campaign so I figured, hey, some of you might be interested, too. Here's the press release:

Simmons Campaign Statement On Dodd Campaign Use Of Lewd Term To Insult Constituents

(MYSTIC) - Simmons for Senate Campaign Manager Jim Barnett issued the following statement today in reaction to Senator Dodd's spokespeople's repeated use of the lewd term "teabaggers" to insult Dodd's constituents:

"There seems to be no end to Sen. Dodd's hypocrisy and arrogance. Even as they condemn others for lowering the level of discourse, Sen. Dodd's spokespeople routinely employ lewd language that would make anyone else blush to insult thousands of Dodd's own constituents. For all their complaints about tea party protesters, town hall attendees and Joe Wilson, so far this is the only instance of the staff of a sitting U.S. Senator publicly referring to his constituents with a pornographic insult. It's a new low, even for Sen. Dodd, and his campaign's childish name-calling perfectly illustrates Dodd's own contempt for the people of Connecticut and all who oppose his big government, tax and spend plans. He owes them an apology."

FACTS:

Yesterday It Was Reported That The Connecticut Democrat Party Communications Director, A Former Dodd Spokeswoman, Used The Lewd Term "Teabagger" To Describe Dodd's Own Constituents Whom She Simultaneously Criticizes For Being Unable To Have "A Legitimate Debate." '"To try and have a legitimate debate about the critical issues of our day with this group of tea-baggers is a joke,' she [Flanagan] wrote in an e-mail message." (Litchfield County Times, 9/17/09)

It's Not The First Time Flanagan Has Used This Lewd Term To Describe Dodd's Constituents:

o Flanagan: "But if Rob Simmons and his rightwing teabagger friends believe they know better than people like John McCain's economic advisor, the Chamber of Commerce's chief economist, and Warren Buffett, by all means, they should continue to spread the word." (Capitol Watch blog, Hartford Courant, 9/4/09)

o Flanagan: "I think this is another step in the Rob Simmons two-step, trying to say he's a moderate while taking staunchly conservative money, embracing the Dump Dodd teabaggers, embracing stances that are not similar to stances of the people he seeks to represent.'' (Capitol Watch blog, Hartford Courant, 8/6/09)

Last Week, Dodd's Campaign Manager Jay Howser Insulted Dodd's Constituents Using The Term "Teabagger" Even As He Hypocritically Complains About The Level Of Discourse. '"The great thing about the far right wing, extreme group of tea-baggers who have entertained us throughout the summer is that their idea of free speech is akin to shouting down opposition, drowning out debate, and in Connecticut, encouraging Sen. Dodd to commit suicide with painkillers and alcohol,' Howser said. 'No responsible American, regardless of their political beliefs, thinks that this fringe element has anything valuable to offer to our country's discourse or debate.' (Hartford Courant, 9/11/09)"

For The Definition Of The Term "Teabagging" One Can Refer To Wikipedia Or Any Number Of Online Slang Dictionaries.

*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Future developer of downtown?

Could be this firm, one of two that sought the job when bids were opened last week at City Hall. The other was the more familiar, homegrown D'Amato Construction.

*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Alford hails movement on mall property

Press release issued this morning by Republican mayoral candidate Mary Alford:

Alford Applauds Mall Activity

“This is great news for Bristol and the BDDC, who for months has been hampered in its attempts to solicit interest in our city due to the economic times”, Mary Alford, Republican candidate for Mayor said today. “I am pleased, as well, to see that one of our own is in the running.”

Two firms submitted their requests for quotation just under the deadline. “It is important to note that these are Requests for Qualification and not Requests for Proposal, which is perhaps the next step in this process”’ Alford said.

“I am sure that the BDDC will perform its due diligence carefully in the vetting of both developers. It’s an arduous process but, in the end, I trust that the members will do what is best for Downtown.”

*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

A portion of Route 72 may open this fall -- but not if the mayor can stop it

Stand in the middle of the new section of Route 72 as it crosses Lincoln Avenue and it looks like the road is almost done.
Though there’s still a pile of dirt at the end of the existing expressway and construction crews swarming to lay pavement and build drainage, officials say that a portion of the new boulevard between Plainville and Central Street could open this fall.
But it’s not clear whether it will.
“I don’t see any advantage to doing that,” Mayor Art Ward said.
The $63 million project [see map here] will create a 2.4-mile, four lane road between the end of the expressway and Riverside Avenue. It is slated to open in the fall of 2010.
Ward told state transportation officials recently that opening a short section of the eastern portion of the new road early “will have serious adverse impacts that far outweigh any gains.Ward said that he doesn’t want to see cars heading west with the option of getting off only on Lincoln or Central because neither street is capable of handling the volume of cars likely to use them.
Lincoln Avenue, which runs between the O’Brien Funeral Home and Greene-Hills School, doesn’t have a traffic light on the Pine Street.
Traffic heading north on Central Street toward Forestville’s center is not allowed to turn left because a traffic island blocks the way, forcing drivers there to head only east, back toward Plainville.
State Rep. Frank Nicastro, a Bristol Democrat and former mayor, said that he’s concerned that opening the short stretch might cause problems that would “create a sour taste” among the public about a project that ought to relieve congestion when it’s all done next year.
“After all this work, all this money,” Nicastro said, he doesn’t want the new road “to start off on the wrong foot.”
When the road is finished, the mayor said, it will offer the community “a whole different perspective” on transportation within the city, opening the possibility to the revival of Riverside Avenue as well as Forestville’s struggling commercial center.
After waiting for a half a century to get the road built, Ward said, there’s no reason to rush it now.
There’s more benefit to the community to open the road next year, Ward said.
Nicastro said he plans to talk soon with state transportation officials to find out if there is a way to alleviate the concerns Ward raised. If there are, he said, that would be fine.
But, Nicastro said, after “fighting like mad” for many years to have the road built, it would be best to make sure it opens under the best possible circumstances so everyone can see its benefits.
“It’s going to solve a major problem” that has hurt Bristol for a half century, Nicastro said.
“We want to get this thing done and moving as quickly as possible,” Nicastro said, but also to do it right.
The new road features a sunken, boulevard-type street that slices through a residential section of Forestville between Route 372 in Plainville and Todd Street. A raised median will separate the road.
After that section, the four-lane road will follow the existing right of way on Pine Street before cutting north behind Dunkin’ Donuts to align with Riverside Avenue.
State officials said the Pine Street section of the project will be done next year.
The new road will end at Middle Street after crossing a new bridge that’s under construction across the Pequabuck River about a quarter of a mile east of the intersection with Riverside.
Ten intersections with traffic lights will be included along the new road.
The New Britain-based Manafort Brothers got the construction contract in August 2007 to carry out the work for nearly $40 million. It was delayed 16 months by problems getting utilities moved, officials said.

A long road to completion
As one of the few cities its size in the nation without a four-lane highway, Bristol has pushed for one since the 1950s.
For decades, plans called for a limited-access superhighway that would have swung through Forestville, cut south of downtown and ultimately linked up with Route 8 near Thomaston.
The plan spurred widespread opposition within the community, particularly in neighborhoods that faced devastation, and politicians could never settle on a single scheme.
Twenty years ago, the state pulled the plug on the increasingly costly plan, leaving few options.
But former state Rep. Kosta Diamantis, a Bristol Democrat, pumped life back into it with a compromise proposal in 1993 that led to the approval of a four-lane road through Forestville.
Most politicians in the city, with strong urging from the Greater Bristol Chamber of Commerce, rallied behind the project.
Stretch Norton, a former mayor, led the opposition, insisting the new road would do nothing to relieve congestion. He said it will simply shift the tie-ups to Middle Street, without speeding up the commute for most drivers.
Supporters said that traffic studies showed the project would help -- and pointed to the advantage of having an easy to follow path from the highway to downtown.
Mayor Art Ward said that downtown’s revitalization hinges on the successful completion of the road.
After so many years of feuding and delay, “it’ll be nice to get it open,” the mayor said.


*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com