If you live even remotely near the city’s waterfront during a storm, sometimes the bluefish swim in as involuntary company, along with a lot of water damage. A plan is under review to reduce flood risk for the South End and Black Rock Harbor areas. It’s called Resilient Bridgeport. A public information meeting for Resilient Bridgeport will take place Oct. 18, 6 pm in Littlefield Recital Hall of the Arnold Bernhard Arts & Humanities Center, 84 Iranistan Avenue to provide an overview of the program as it launches into the next phase: “environmental review and preliminary design for both the National Disaster Resilience (NDR) funded and Rebuild by Design (RBD) funded projects. Together, these investments will build the foundation for long-term economic, environmental and social resilience in the South End of Bridgeport.”
An open-house session will start at 6 pm to provide attendees an opportunity to speak one-on-one with representatives from the Resilient Bridgeport Project team. A presentation will follow at 7 with detailed information on the Resilient Bridgeport Program as it transitions from the RBD funded planning phase to the NDR funded implementation phase. More information about Resilient Bridgeport is available at www.resilientbridgeport.com.
David Kooris, the city’s former director of development who left city service in the spring of 2016, is tasked with managing the federally funded project to improve Bridgeport’s shoreline infrastructure as one of his responsibilities with the state.
See design team here.
In 2014, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) selected the City of Bridgeport and a multidisciplinary design team led by New Orleans-based Waggonner & Ball Architecture/Environment to prepare an integrated resilience framework for Bridgeport through the federal Rebuild by Design Competition. The resulting HUD grant award of $10,000,000, received by the State of Connecticut in 2015, is being used to develop a plan for reducing flood risk and improving resilience for the South End and Black Rock Harbor areas, and to build a pilot project in the South End that serves as a catalyst for full implementation of broader flood protection and resilience strategies.
This is great. Black Rockers will attend en masse.
Will the subject of the city’s antiquated waste water treatment system be addressed?
Sorry Charlie. “build a pilot project in the South End that serves as a catalyst for full implementation.”
Maybe we begin to address the Black Rock in about 10 years.
Ganim figures he’s better trying to build a relationship with UB than to repair one with the Black Rock.
Joe Ganim is on the way out. His political career is over but the photo ops. The incoming City Council is going to bristle and buck at any attempts to control them. Mario Testa is old, well past his “sell by” date. Joe Ganim is running scared, crashing private parties in an effort to salvage his brand. While one member of the DTC thinks it was a “brilliant” move the rest of us see it as a desperate ploy.
This project could be a great thing. $10,000,000.00 ain’t chicken feed. To make it work the oeople must be involved and engaged in the process. This administration has pulled too many fast moves to be trusted with the best interests of the people of the city of Bridgeport.
Brilliant!!!
We’re going to put sticky notes all over the South End to absorb the water!!!!
Why didn’t i think of that!
The Troll makes me laugh. The sticky notes as a sponge image has me grabbing for a life preserver!
one of my roles in life is to make Local Eyes laugh.
Otherwise he takes life much too seriously.
I am going to try to attend and have put this on my calendar. But this has been going on for a while. Between the budget woes of the State of Connecticut and the anti-urban stance of the Trump Administration,I have major doubts about what this whole thing is all about.(David Kooris did a get a job/paycheck. That’s one real result.)
Is flooding the number one problem in the South End? An under-utilized Seaside Park which suffers from the negative perceptions of Bridgeport part of the problem? Does The University of Bridgeport continue to have a negative perception with the real/perceived connection with The Unification Church?Sun Myung Moon. IMHO, UB must completely eliminate any connections and perceptions of connections to The Unification Church. There is also the question of major infrastructure problems in The South End. Historical houses with insufficient care. Regular house with insufficient care. The entire South End reeks of lack of maintenance and lack of re-investment. The upside is that due to the boundaries created by I-95 and Metro-North railroad tracks can create a very unique and special neighborhood in conjunction with an UB that has impeccable qualifications and free from any negative connotations.
The entire South End reeks of faded industry and stagnant water.
Here comes those 15 foot Sand Dunes that no one wants!
$10,000,000 for a “plan?!” And where will the $1 billion + that it takes to physically address rising sea levels and increasing storm-damage threats along the Bridgeport coastline come from? (And Frank, your ridiculous concern about the “Moonies,” and your lack of appreciation for UB’s current/historic role in the city, South End, and region, speaks to an anachronistic mentality that might be used as a negative credibility indicator…)
The First thing that should be done to mitigate risk to critical shoreline infrastructure would be to relocate the Bridgeport, shoreline power-generation/power-supply infrastructure “inland.” In that regard, the planned, G2 coal/gas/diesel PSE&G, waterfront power-plant behemoth should be relocated “inland” (perhaps to Easton or Monroe)… This would also simplify creating tidal buffers and diking, etc., for the rest of the coastline… But of course, something that elementary would never appear in a $10,000,000 “plan.”
And how might this coastal-protection plan affect indicated upgrades pursuant to Bridgeport harbor/waterfront usages?…
Jeff,you are absolutely right about the gap between a $10 million plan and possibly a one billion dollar fix. However,I would like to touvh base on the UB/”Moonie” Connection. The fact of the matter is that the connection still remain,real or perceived. Any young person or parents of a young person who is looking for college level education in the Greater Bridgeport Area and considers UB just might do some basic “google” research on UB and immediately the “Moonie” factor pops up.I will simply say that it remains a negative factor as anyone does any further research om the “Moonie History.” Is is fair or not fair. It may very possibly be not fair because we have two other institutions of higher learning in The Greater Bridgeport Area(Fairfield University-Jesuits and Sacred Heart Univ-Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport) and these institutions may very well be much more influenced by The Roman Catholic Church but it certainly seems not to be a detrimental factor in student enrollment,endowments etc yet UB has an “identity””quality” negative marketing issue. I think it is fair to discuss this and there may be disagreements but i maintain that the Moonie identity remains a problem.I feel that disregarding this issue is a mistake. I did say that UB has tremendous potential due to its geographical location within the South End and the geographical boundaries of the South End.
So Lennie,
When and where’s the next OIB soiree? I suggest TruNORTH Tavern & Table or Hub & Spoke in beautiful Black Rock.
The New Orleans team is cause for suspicion. When Katrina hit the Crescent City the Ninth Ward, thepoorest part of town, was flooded. It took weeks to pump out the water out and remove the dead bodies.
Not a single Bridgeport person, save one that is politically connected, is hired with this $10 million planning grant.
That does not make sense, not to have a grass roots representation, institutional memory and knowledge of the lay of the land.
Wow.
Bob,
Ain’t politics great…
Great for a chosen few
Katrina was not the strongest hurricane to ever make landfall, but it was extremely destructive. It was so destructive primarily because levees around New Orleans, Louisiana failed.
The city government of New Orleans, Louisiana, failed. Before and after the hurricane
tHE MAYOR WENT TO JAIL AFTER THIS STORM