Update with photos:
Land that was proposed years ago as the site for a juvenile detention center for girls is now a park in the Upper East Side.
City Communications Director Brett Broesder has more:
Today, Mayor Bill Finch will celebrate the grand opening of Bridgeport’s newest park, Nob Hill. He’ll be joined by elected officials and community leaders.
Located at 115 Virginia Avenue, the new park includes dog runs for large and small dogs, a bike loop, a splash pad, horseshoe lanes, picnic areas and a playground dedicated in memory of Anna Migliore, a long-time leader in the city’s Upper East Side.
“We’ve renovated and created over 100 acres of parkland, and we’re just getting started,” said Mayor Bill Finch. “The kids of this neighborhood will be playing on a brand new playground and splash pad. This park is an investment in our future and in our children as we continue to make Bridgeport a place where families choose to raise their kids and grandkids.”
Bridgeport is called the Park City, and it wants to make sure it’s living up to its name while improving the quality of life for its residents. Bridgeport is creating new parks and revitalizing old ones to give kids cleaner air to breathe and to revitalize neighborhoods.
Living up to its name as the Park City isn’t just so Bridgeport kids have cleaner air to breathe, it also makes sound economic sense. A recent study found that Bridgeport parks serve as a catalyst for neighborhoods, attracting investments and economic development. That’s a tangible win/win for families, businesses and the city.
Brett Boner, I am a “community leader” in Thomas Hooker and I didn’t receive an invitation. I wonder why. 🙂
I need not wonder. Here’s why: if you were nicer to Bridgeport’s Communications Director maybe he would send you an invitation. However, your consistent use of foul language makes his choice easy.
Local Eyes, I don’t know what you consider to be “foul language” in Trumbull, but I have not used “foul language” regarding Brett Boner.
Morning laugh. Thank you. 🙂
You are anti-Finch, so why would he invite you? Who nominated you a community leader? Finch lied again, this park was supposed to be named after Ann Migliore.
I take it back about Finch naming the park after Ann Migliore. I apologize, I looked at the photo again this time with both eyes open. Thank You Mayor Finch. Ann was a great person and I miss her.
Andy, no offense to her memory, I heard wonderful things about her. Nob Hill Park is the perfect name.
Maria, your invitation is this press release. I agree with Andy, you are anti-Finch. You stated on more than one occasion you felt the community would not appreciate or want a park. Like the decades of an obsolete state building with graffiti was more desirable. I do not recall your community activism or involvement with the derail the jail effort. I do not recall your attendance at any of the meetings, not one that 25 of us attended regularly headed by Chris Caruso. I do not recall your joining us at the state house where we handed a letter personally to Jodi Rell.
Although I appreciate your passion, I agree with Andy Fardy. I did not get a personal invite and I am one of Finch’s only supporters on this blog. I do not need an invitation or a pat on the back. If I want to go I will go. As a Bridgeport resident and taxpayer I have always been welcomed by any administrations photo op press conference.
Maria, maybe if Ganim wins, he will make sure you are invited personally to every event. I wonder if Chris Caruso will be there. Not that he is a Finch supporter but Caruso was involved with the process that gave Bridgeport this gorgeous park. If the sun comes out I may show up. This is a real plus for the youth and seniors of the neighborhood. Hopefully, people will be respectful and maintain it.
Maria, everyone in Nob Hill received a flyer. Two of my tenants texted me.
Steve, it is Nob Hill Park with Ann Migliore.
Andy, yes I was there. Ann Migliore’s name is prominently displayed on the beautiful playground. It was a great turnout and the food was delicious. Mayor Finch was very gracious thanking everyone in the community. Mary-Jane Foster was there and it was great seeing her. Joe Ganim left as I was arriving, 15 minutes before the speech. Chris Caruso and Richie Paoletto were acknowledged as well as Melanie Jackson and Mike Marella.
The spread of food was impressive but the Park was really something. Mayor Finch also thanked Joel Bing, whom I worked with for weeks with Caruso and who also served well on the Board of directors at Nob Hill. I met so many people I enjoy conversing with at all the schools as well as telling Mayor Finch I appreciated his efforts and apparently all in attendance agreed.
I do not blame Joe Ganim for his quick departure. I would have said hello. This was definitely a Finch event and still Mary-Jane Foster had a lot of well-wishes. I am happy she was there. I was happy Mayor Finch enjoyed his moment and always so good to see Mayor Fabrizi. I am sorry I didn’t get a chance to say hello to Mary Fabrizi. I understand quite a few folks attending Joe Ganim’s fundraiser are now supporting Howard Gardner.
This election may become a little better than a yawn.
Richie Paoletto, you were missed but your son did a great job representing you and the hard work you have done over the years improving the neighborhood.
Steve, my comments were tongue in cheek. I did not live in the neighborhood when the prison was being proposed. I lived in the South End.
Steve, I did attend the public hearing held at the carousel in Beardsley Park.
Great, I did not attend that meeting. I assume you are referring to Mayor Finch’s outreach for neighborhood input?
No. Representatives from the state came down to make a presentation about the detention center, and then members of the community were allowed to come to a microphone and speak. No one spoke in favor of it.
Oh that meeting. Well as you know, I spoke at that podium and was interviewed by channels 3, 8 and 12.
Ann Migliore loved her district and worked hard to make it better. Ann and Dottie Guman were true leaders in the Democratic Town Committee in trying to do the right thing. Although I didn’t live in their district I learned a lot from them during my time on the DTC and I had respect for them.
“We have renovated and created over 100 acres of parkland.” I am guessing that includes the solar farm at Seaside Park.
Your guess is correct. Turning a domed dump into an awe-inducing, energy-producing, money-making thing of beauty makes Black Rock part of a progressive community. If you haven’t gone green, you’re gonna get there soon enough.
(wink)
But he should be subtracting that land since it won’t be park land for another 20 – 30 years.
Subtracting value is not something Mayor Finch is good at. Adding value is his expertise. Turning liabilities into assets means improvement for Bridgeport.
In a separate matter, I apologize to Andrew C Fardy. I was wrong to question his commitment to Bridgeport.
The only thing this mayor has expertise in is spending taxpayer money on green signs. He is not even an expert at posting them. Precinct lines are a tricky thing, apparently.
Local Eyes,
You are a neighbor from Trumbull who is ever ready to offer a correction or at least alternative view. Therefore, please note the land on which refuse and end materials were dumped for years is in the South End, not in Black Rock. Neither the lighthouse nor Seaside are geographically part of Black Rock.
And if the UI solar approval left the City of Bridgeport with all the potential toxic risks while the UI installs its solar apparatus for up to 20 years, the amount of funds that may (or may not) come to the City may look like money losing rather than money making. Please review the 20-year handout with adjustments for depreciation, but not necessarily assuming modernized equipment purchased at lower values, or other assumptions. Time will tell.
I’d rather have a park in the Park City than a juvenile center from the state of Connecticut. Congratulations to Mayor Finch and all those who defeated this proposal, including those who initially favored it. The times were desperate and relief was needed. “Economic stimulus” was the current buzzword.
Bonus: www .bldsteelpointe.com <– it gets better–progress underway.
Did we really NEED another “pocket park” in the City? Especially when it’s within one block from Beardsley Park! Wouldn’t the money have been better spent elsewhere?
I lived in Nob Hill on Virginia Ave for 15 years and regularly went with my dog to Beardsley Park; carrying a pooper scooper, of course.
PavlickInTheNorthend, I and others agree with your assessment. Beardsley Park is a stone’s throw away. I have my rap about this park ready. I have already started using it with success.
I am Ganim’s Karl Rove. Karl Rove is famous for taking what a candidate claims to be a positive and makes it a negative.
Karl Rove is a miserable ill-informed individual who had been banned from Fox news. You think you can turn that park into a negative? That’s going to help Joe Ganim? I don’t think so. Maria, I think before the summer is started you will be supporting Howard Gardner. I spoke to a number of friends who went to Ganim’s fundraiser who now support Howard Gardner. To be specific, seven, from three different circles. Four women, three men, age range 38 to 54. Two black, one Puerto Rican, two Jews and two Portuguese. They were not impressed with the speech and I am sure Mary-Jane Foster will also appeal to them but four are actually going to work on Howard Gardner’s campaign. I think Ganim had better have a plan rather than knock Finch’s positive events. The park is better than a jail and open space is a good thing. I am certain if a better plan happens down the road and the park is underutilized, I guess the city could make changes. Today however, the city celebrated a healthy environment for locals to relax and improve the quality of life. We are the Park City. Complaining about too many parks is just plain ridiculous. Seriously!
Steve Auerbach, parks are nice but where are the the jobs that pay a wage people can live on, not these jobs for six months?
Please, Steve, don’t make decisions for me about whom I will support. There is only one person who gets to make that decision, and that is me.
As far as the four who are going to work on Howard’s campaign, what matters is are they effective and can they deliver a bloc of votes.
Steve, I will be making a donation to Howard’s campaign, and have already committed to Howard that I would.
So I understand Maria, you are making donations to Howard Gardner’s campaign? Does Joe Ganim not need your money? Who are you really supporting? Btw I think you know a few of the people I mentioned because they know of you.
I, my family and closest friends will be making the maximum donation of $1,000 to Joe. I will also make a smaller donation to Howard.
Maria, you are a very generous woman and I am certain they all appreciate your kindness. I wish I had that kind of money to donate.
“Pocket parks” represent current thinking in parkland usage. Under Mayor Finch, dog owners enjoy better amenities; children play in sandboxes and homeowners/neighborhoods recognize the benefits. What’s good for today is good for tomorrow, too.
FROM WHAT I’VE HEARD THAT SECTION OF TOWN ISN’T SAFE, I’LL JUST CHILL AT WASHINGTON PARK, THANK YOU.
Hector Diaz, not safe? You are kidding, right? Oh that’s right, you are supporting Joe Ganim. Remember how when Ganim was Mayor, lower East Main St. was a real shit box? Things have gotten a lot better there. I go out of my way to patronize El Floboyan and Rainbow as well as Ramirez. I love Washington Park it is sad the gays did not move here 20 years ago as they all went to New Haven Wooster square. Those homes are gorgeous Victorians, all renovated. I believe Steelpointe will be a magnet for the same type of community renaissance. The Nob Hill Park by Beardsley Park now the street from the mayor’s home is gorgeous and getting better every day. Remember what the shopping plaza was like under Ganim on Huntington Tpke, Mr. Diaz? A real shitbox. Thanks to Mayor Finch and Richie Paoletto and Bob Curwen that shopping plaza has become vibrant. Save your anti-Finch negativity. People in the Hooker school area and Beardsley School area remember all too well what was not happening in their neighborhood. You dislike Finch? You should be supporting Foster. She at least is a respectable candidate.
Hector, stick with Joe. Many of us believe he has a real chance of defeating Finch. I believe you feel the same way.
Hector, you are right on the money. In the past two weeks we have had two murders and an armed robbery. We have also had several burglaries. We never had crime up here until we got overrun with Section 8 housing. At night we have more people hanging on the corners than does the entire East Side.
Section 8 housing does bring a lot of transient tenants to a neighborhood. There are no people hanging on the corners by Beardsley and Nob Hill Park, Andy. Don’t get carried away. Mayor Finch has done many things there to improve the neighborhood. He and his family also live there. Not all of section 8 are scum. Andy, from a Real Estate perspective, your neighborhood is still considered a very desirable area. Yes, crime is everywhere in a city. I know police presence is there.
Looks very nice, civil. Let’s keep it in our minds that positive and no trash please.
I recently took a walk through that park when visiting someone in Nob Hill. That park works very well for that neighborhood–a nice little park, safely and conveniently located for the kids, dog walkers, and older people of Nob Hill and adjacent neighborhoods. A very appropriate use of that piece of land… Very nicely laid out. Thank God the state/region didn’t have their way with us again!
Fortunately for once, the will of the people presided in this case. The politicians had to be persuaded by some serious activism not to put a jail here. Unfortunately, down the river, Finch did get his way with the jail at the site of the CR&L Historic Trolley Barn.
There was a much better use for this land, however I will share that with voters as I door knock.
A Charter School? Many would agree. Especially little Janiya from the video.
No, Steve. Something no resident would ever be opposed to. An absolute positive for our neighborhood which would also create jobs.
This would not encourage gang members, drug dealers, etc., and would not have negatively impacted parking in the neighborhood.
I will be knocking in that neighborhood within the next two weeks and I look forward to sharing all this information with my neighbors.
Maria, that’s amazing … share! But that is ancient history.
Good for Mayor Finch. A park is a helluva big improvement over a juvenile detention center.
… and Ann Migliore was a wonderful person and a huge asset to the City. I am very pleased to see the park named in her honor, as should everyone else regardless of whom they are supporting for mayor.
John, the playground is named in her honor, not the park. There was an alternative that would have been much more appropriate in honoring Ms. Migliore.
John, the opinions that really matter are of those who live in the neighborhood. There are quite a few of us who disagree with this park being created for a variety of reasons.
Maria, how many people really object to the park? A couple of old ladies who hate everything. When there was a pile of concrete piled on the site for a few years they had nothing to say.
Finch and our two alderman knew a full year in advance this prison was scheduled to be built on this site. People rose up and the jail was scrapped. Maria, what should be built at this site?
I am looking out my dining room window and I don’t see a park. What I do see is a street that has not been paved in the 13 years I have owned my home.
It would be great if we could maintain what we have instead of creating new locations to maintain (or not).
Pave it and paint it green for all I care, just pave it.
Gabrielle, you are so demanding! 🙂
The park is wonderful. It certainly is better than the concrete debris that sat there for years. And it is 1000% better than a detention center. I have taken my dogs over to the park numerous times. They really enjoy the dog runs and interacting with other neighborhood dogs.
Joe and I have enjoyed many a pleasant conversation with people from Nob Hill while visiting the park. Nothing like taking a dog for a walk to unite strangers.
I also use the park on my daily walks. Sure beats navigating the pothole-ridden streets and poorly maintained sidewalks.