Saturday In The Park …

Mayor Bill Finch’s Saturday events

Saturday, May 7 Activities

Mayor Finch to Attend

Housing Fair, Tree Planting ‘Crawl’ and Discovery School Dedication

9 a.m. – Mayor Bill Finch will welcome attendees at the CHFA Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program Housing Fair. Connecticut has been awarded $33 million from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through the Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program, a forgivable loan program intended to assist homeowners facing foreclosure due to unemployment, under-employment or for medical reasons. Representatives from CHFA, housing Development Fund and Affordable Housing Centers of America, as well as other counseling agencies will be on hand to provide individual counseling. Public is invited. The Housing Fair will be held on the first floor of City Hall Annex, 999 Broad St., Bridgeport CT. Program runs from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and is open to the public.

10 a.m. – Mayor Finch will kick off the “One Million Trees Project – Right Tree for the Right Place at the Right Time,” a project of the American Bar Association. Volunteers from several area law firms and businesses will plant 60 trees throughout the downtown area in a “tree planting crawl” to replace those destroyed during last year’s tornado. The crawl begins at 10 a.m. at Wheeler Park, next to City Hall at 45 Lyon Terrace, and will include planting stops at Bridgeport Fire Headquarters, 30 Congress St., Baldwin Plaza, at the corner of Broad Street and Fairfield Avenue, 1130 Broad St., and City Hall Annex, 999 Broad St.

11 a.m. – Mayor Finch and Schools Superintendent Dr. John Ramos Sr. will join school board officials, and local dignitaries for the formal dedication ceremony for the Interdistrict Discovery Magnet School. The new school features a science and technology based curriculum for students in Pre-K through 8 grades. The 68,333 square foot school includes 33 classrooms with SMART boards, notebook computers and dedicated science rooms. The building was designed by Sigils & Partners of New Haven to LEED Silver standards, and was recently recognized by the Green Building Council for its environmentally-friendly design. The McCloud Group of Hoboken, N.J., a minority-owned firm, was the construction manager for the project. The school draws 70% of its students from Bridgeport with the remaining coming from Easton, Fairfield, Monroe, Milford, Redding, Shelton, Stratford and Trumbull.