From Mayor Bill Finch:
Mayor Bill Finch today marked the demolition of 337 Knowlton St., as a part of Phase III of construction of the City’s newest park–Knowlton Park.
Construction of Phase II of Knowlton Park began in Fall 2013 and will consist of: a basketball court, play equipment and rubber play surface, a pergola, pavilion, sidewalk paths throughout the park along the waterfront, and landscape improvements.
Knowlton Park, which opened in 2012, is located on Knowlton Street in the City’s East Side along the Pequonnock River. Knowlton Park is a part of Mayor Finch’s waterfront recapture initiative, which aims to give residents an opportunity to enjoy the City’s waterfront. The City’s Parks Master Plan calls for the creation of parks and green spaces throughout the city that are within a 15-minute walk of most residents.
“Since its opening in 2012, Knowlton Park has been a tremendous asset to the East Side community. The next phase of the park will bring a playground, basketball court with resurfacing such as those at Netball Court Resurfacing, and boardwalk, all of which will certainly draw in crowds of people from throughout the neighborhood to enjoy,” said Mayor Finch. “We’re tearing down a blighted property that has not been productive in several years and replacing it with a beautiful waterfront park, featuring nearly two football field’s length of linear access to the Pequonnock River.”
The property at 337 Knowlton St. was donated to the City by MP Development. The demolition project, estimated to cost $1 million, is funded by City capital funds and the HUD Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). The expected duration of the demolition project is 30 days.
*** I rarely see people at that park on Knowlton St. whenever I visit Bpt Lobster & Shellfish Market nearby. It will be interesting to see how all this Stabilization Program all works out once it’s all done! ***
How big is this damn park going to be? Utter stupidity. Let’s keep taking taxable property off the books! I DON’T GET IT! The city is very small (land-wise) to begin with, we can’t afford to keep taking properties off the rolls. Same with the construction of all these “sprawling” elementary schools that look more suited for a suburban location rather than an inner city. These bozos will forever be bozos.
That’s great! Now Mayor, can you step back “just a little more?”
The former owners of these properties are glad to rid themselves of them and the taxes they paid. They even avoided the cost of demolition. Hopefully, the land can be placed back on the tax rolls if there is ever an interest in development that pays taxes.
The former owners of these properties did everything they could to work with the city and finally were so utterly frustrated, they got their deal done (on the city’s terms) and have and are leaving town–disgusted by the deceit and incompetence they’ve dealt with. Under different circumstances, they would be in Bridgeport today developing the East Side, which they loved.
Replacing a blighted building with a park is a wise move. No developer wants to buy an ugly property. Beautification is a precursor to renewal. If an opportunity emerges, the City Council will make the final decision. Mayor Finch is doing what’s possible now. He’s building an asset. I applaud his actions but question the motives of the doomfreaks who dominate today’s page.
Another brain-dead demo by Demolition Bill.
Look at the Veterans Park soccer/baseball fields next to the north branch library. They half-as*ed the whole park. Light pole bases with no light poles, half of a paved walkway. Plus there is NO upkeep! Some guy works there during the summer but the field looks like absolute garbage. Burnt grass, missing patches, a whole field full of sand. Not to mention the THOUSANDS of bottle caps everywhere. They built a halfway-decent park and in just 7 short years looks like something typical of BPT.
Should have saved the cash involved with all these parks and fixed the Congress St bridge. Who will maintain all these parks? Over time, with all the costs two or three Congress St bridges could be fixed. No, let’s build a park and look across the shit river at a Downtown we can’t get to. LOL!
*** Things are moving up in the GHETTO, no? *** Park City Madness ***