A second train station to complement access to the Steel Point redevelopment area on the East Side featuring Bass Pro Shops as the anchor tenant is a centerpiece of Mayor Bill Finch’s reelection platform with a projected completion date of 2018 if all the station financing pieces are in place.
Last July Governor Dan Malloy called it “Bridgeport’s next evolution,” when he announced $2.75 million for engineering, design and environmental permitting in support of Barnum Station at the site of the former Remington Arms factory on Barnum Avenue. Officials then pegged the total price tag at roughly $50 million. The CT Post reports that number has swelled by almost three times.
From Jim Shay, CT Post:
The total cost for the Barnum Station project is estimated to be $146.1 million, “including environmental review, design and construction.” the state Department of Transportation said.
Previous estimates had the price as low as $48 million, but apparently did not include all the costs of cleaning up the contaminated parcel on seven acres off Barnum Avenue.
That price tag was was contained in a grant application the state Department of Transportation has submitted for federal money.
Full story here.
Should be titled
“Legalized Dopes” i.e. The elected.
Who will use it? If you were to ask why use it, I would have to say to leave Connecticut.
To benefit whom? A connected Dem?
More like a bunch of Chooches!
To benefit John McClutchy.
Let’s just open a Cabela’s next to Bass Pro Shops!
I think the price tag is too high but a new station will allow for the high speed train to stop in Bridgeport. The new station will also clean up a large section of the city.
Ditto.
I agree, Andy.
Will the cost paid for this major project–now re-estimated to be more than three times the last estimate–be justified in 10, 20, 30, … 50 years? Similar questions arise for proposed intergenerational tax abatements so popular with the current city administration.
Is this planned train stop yet another instance of a forced alignment of the stars (e.g., as I’ve heard a former elected official tell us, “the bonding money’s been approved, so either we use it or lose it”) for election time? And to heck with publishing standard timelines, project details, and a basic ROI analysis?
Beware false urgency and guarantees for human progress from guileful politicians in campaign season.
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary [or re-election campaign] depends on his not understanding it.”–Upton Sinclair
I used to love this commercial. I was born in 1957. Pretty steep price tag to make Bridgeport competitive and grow in the 21st century. If we want to stay on the competitive edge we need to support this and watch Bridgeport grow. I still repeat I can remember working in Stamford as New York business and residents started going North. Bridgeport needs to strike while the iron is hot. It can open up an entire section of the city, minutes from Steelpointe and East Main. As well as the Seaview Avenue corridor and the Yale Bridgeport Hospital expansion. We need to rise up and let all areas of the city thrive. There is more to Bridgeport than Black Rock, Downtown and the North End. The East Main Street corridor will become the beneficiary. If there is a goal to get cars off the road then better Bridgeport lead the way. Any thoughts from the other candidates? You have to have the ability to look to the future and think outside the box. Sal DiNardo may reap the benefits of unloading this huge obsolete and derelict contaminated property, but in the end three years down the road, massive construction continues on Steelpointe, Bridgeport CT will benefit and the East side/East End will thrive. Hallelujah!!!
WHY?
Steve, if this were to be a station as being “sold” to the public, I would support it, if it even had a ticket clerk’s office and the telegram or mail stop, with a guy selling papers and another guy with a fruit cart I might support it. Sadly it won’t have any of these things. Infuse $146 million into the whole of the East Side from “steal point” to Vazzy’s and that whole community benefits. What they are building is a parking lot for commuters to use as they rush to work or home, the parking is needed so bad, in Fairfield they would rather the people from Black Rock not park with or around them {they are BUILDING THEM A BRIDGE, I would like to see how they separate the community from the new one).
Hector, let’s make believe this was Ganim’s plan. Let’s remove the politics and the Sal DiNardo story. Let’s just assume Ganim thought this up. It is great for an undeserved area. How about the residents who do not drive, getting jobs along the train line. Hector, the problem for you and many others is we have become so used to one project every three years, we have lost the ability to imagine Bridgeport could now attract business and our people could find it easier to commute. Just imagine if Ganim came up with the idea. We need to be looking at the future with every new project happening. This includes more housing in the area, market rate and affordable. More patrons for the Gorgeous Washington park and business on East Main St.
Hector, side note: I ate at Coquito the other day, but I wanted to go to El Flaboyan. I was told they went out of business and I was shocked. More residents and housing and a train. That whole area could be a draw no different than Little Italy and Chinatown in New York. We have to be optimistic and believe it is our time now. Bridgeport once was the most exciting city in Connecticut and we can be again. Get the politics out of the way, think about what needs to happen to help a section of the city thrive with many side projects to enhance. We cannot continue to play these games. The train has all but left the station in Bridgeport. I cannot imagine Ganim not supporting it to be honest. I do know there are other candidates who have built in obstructionists who will stand in the way of any project until the market crashes again. Strike while the iron is hot. Yes, it is a huge amount of money. Stamford is having roads widened and that will cost a fortune. Stamford and Bridgeport share so many things in common right down to ethnic makeup, yet one community embraced the future and one embraces the past. One loves the idea of success and gentrification and the other fears gentrification thinking taxpayers should continue to support every issue because we offer no hope or future for a business to locate here.
.
We had that over 30 years ago, when it was mostly Puerto Rican. While the area is still predominately PR there are now many cultures, some similar, some not so, in any event they are the LAST people on this administration’s mind. Steve, did I mention THE MAYOR AND HIS CHIEF OF STAFF ARE LIARS, any project they are associated with will always be looked at cynically from me, because they are liars.
Steve, we are not ethnically alike, most of the Spanish-speaking individuals in either Stamford or Norwalk for that matter are South American with which we only share our conquerors and language.
Hector, why are you nit picking? First, the question I asked was about El Flaboyan. They were a nice establishment, nice restaurant.
Second and most important, I realize Puerto Rican and Mexican, Peruvian and Columbian etc. are totally different cultures. That does not mean the area cannot join together and create an ethnic and diverse destination tor people who enjoy authentic cuisine. I wasn’t sure if you were insinuating in Stamford the people were South American and therefore a step above Puerto Ricans. I know that was not your point. My point was I watched Stamford, a city much like Bridgeport, transformed in a few years. It is our turn. Get on the bus or get out of the way.
You cannot find fault with the projects because you personally feel betrayed. Think about your community and the city. Just how many more chances do you see coming our way before The valley and Milford become the development hot spots without the drama and corruption that has plagued our city for decades.
Hector Diaz, I’m in total agreement with both your posts, don’t let Steve bait you because he just put his spin on it and your point.
Yes, do not let Steve put his spin on it. Ron has spoken from the Obstructionist party. At least Ganim, like Finch, is pro-development.
Is that your new thing now? Calling Mary-Jane supporters obstructionists? Good Lord. That conclusion is drawn based on what verified factual information? You have been invited to events to hear what her ideas are, why haven’t you taken advantage of opportunities to obtain firsthand information? I know you have not spoken with her.
Gabrielle,
Because I pretty much get my info from Ron Mackey, Donald Day, Bob Walsh, Ed Gomes and Marilyn Moore. Sorry Gabby, these people are obstructionists. They have been obstructionists with their own agendas before they started supporting MJF. I do not even recognize this person running for Mayor. I do not recognize her at all.
Gabby, that is not my new thing! You read the blog. You see the assaults. These negative people suck the air out of the room. They certainly kill my buzz and after dealing with students in 30 different schools in the city I love, it takes a lot to kill my buzz. If every development project in this city is met with negativity it doesn’t take much to realize they may not be surrounded by the right people now and perhaps would also be surrounded by the same people after elected.
Yes Gabby, I have been invited and just may still show up, it would be great as always to see you and Gage as well as MJF. What’s the point, as one of her staunchest supporters in the past it is clear her new lackluster supporters and myself are clearly on the wrong page on so many issues.
One day when we all want Bridgeport to succeed regardless of the leadership, that’s when we will stand together. Obstructionist is a word I will use for her supporters. As for Mary-Jane, I am certainly curious as to her development plan. That is our future and that is my agenda. My agenda benefits everyone in this city.
Okay, I will keep inviting you.
This is how we do things in Bridgeport:
www .Solounopuedeserelmejor.com
The best way to clean up the East Side (and other areas) of Bridgeport and solve the I-95 congestion problem is by relocating the Bridgeport workforce back to Bridgeport by creating tens of thousands of living-wage jobs in Bridgeport, locating mass employers where they used to be located on fallow locations in the East End, West Side, and the remainder of the traditional industrial core of Bridgeport.
This would also entail rebuilding the Bridgeport tax base such that we would be able to adequately fund all city services as well as a robust public education budget.
But this isn’t what Dan Malloy and his Stamford/Gold Coast/suburban constituency want. If this happens, the privileged of Fairfield County will have to host and provide services for their own local workforce–which would mean an end to their free ride on Bridgeport’s back.
We can upgrade our existing train station to accommodate Acela service.
The mayoral candidates who are supporting this Stamford ploy (new train station/housing) to further develop Bridgeport as the Gold Coast servants quarters need to be sent packing in this election… If they want to give their love to Stamford/The Gold Coast, then they should move there!
Furthermore, all the mayoral candidates should be speaking out against the TPP and rallying their supporters to defeat Jim Himes–4th District Republicrat–in the 2016 Congressional elections. Himes voted for the TPP, like a good corporate Republican, while the real Connecticut Democrats in the House voted against it. Our two US Senators should be commended for voting the right way.
And what about Dan Malloy? Why isn’t he speaking out against the TPP? Does he really give a damn about Connecticut’s distressed cities and the off-shoring of the last of our manufacturing jobs? (Did he have anything to say about the mothballing of the Bridgeport Sikorsky plant?)
$146 million could redeem a lot of brownfields acreage for manufacturing re-use.
Jeff, if you don’t think there are “good corporate Democrats,” you are sadly mistaken. Look at the DNC and Hillary’s donor lists. In fact 9 out of the 10 top political donors in the country are Democrats. Both parties are run by corporate America (i.e. Chamber of Commerce). It’s time we all stop putting party ahead of the people and vote for the right candidates.
Point well taken, Quentin. The party lines are indeed starting to become very blurred. Neither party seems sufficiently concerned with the “common good” of all Americans. The American people and domestic issues have become a secondary concern, with our “global interests” driving US foreign and domestic policy (while also driving the US bankrupt). How quickly we have forgotten 2008 and why the Bridgeports of our country are in their present states of decay.
This train station is a 15-minute walk from the downtown train station. It is a an absolute waste of taxpayer funds.
That 15-minute walk is a different world with the future of a different community at stake. I see over 2000 units of housing with young professionals that will pump money into the local economy. But hey, if the neighborhood wants to remain a testament to Bridgeport circa 1938, decaying and slumlike again turning our backs on an underserved community. It has been this mentality, Maria, that has kept Ernie Newton in power and his constituents always at the short end of the stick. I see salvation for all those decaying Victorian homes. Isn’t it time for that community to reap the benefits of a city attempting to move toward prosperity? I wonder how the people in the area feel about the convenience and possibilities that could come from a new station looking 10 years into the future.
A second train station is going to bring “salvation,” Steve? True salvation would be to invest every dollar for this train station into educating 22,000 BPS students of which 40% live in poverty. That might bring salvation, not a train station.
Maria, you can’t keep throwing money into something that has been failing. It isn’t the teachers, it is the families and that is why everyone is trying to get into magnet schools and charter schools. This is about future Bridgeport and about a train station. This isn’t about a gift of $146 million with the option to spend it any way you like. If Bridgeport doesn’t benefit, Danbury or Stamford will happily find projects the State will invest in.
So Stevie,
Maybe this is how the state and federal government along with businesses feel about Bridgeport.
You can’t keep throwing money at something that has been failing. Eh?
You go, Maria, good idea. Give the $146 million to the charter schools, then every BPT student will have an even chance at a good education.
It’s like having a Burger King next to your McDonald’s.
Frank the Cabana Boy,
For the record, having a McDonalds next to a Burger King is a brilliant marketing strategy. Have you noticed where a Home Depot goes a Lowes follows? Competition is healthy and restaurants and businesses play off each other. The train station opens the entire area to a wealth of opportunities.
Actually the downtown station is closer to Steel Point than this one would be. To Jeff’s point that money could be better spent on the lower East Side. Let’s clean it up, attract some business there before we consider another train station. Unfortunately this smells of more construction jobs for Finch’s cronies more than an immediate need for the city.
This will never happen,just election-year blunder. Hah, $146 million, yeah, this will get funded–NOT, what a joke.
A train station would make sense if there were a plan for office or manufacturing jobs in the vicinity. A City cannot just be a home to commuters, our municipal costs need a commercial tax base to keep residential taxes reasonable based upon the wages of its residents. Metro North should be viewed not as a commuter line to New York but as a subway line for CT that ends in NY. A train station should be an economic engine for the location where it is located, not a destination point for getting on a train. Look at the new station in West Haven. It is isolated, but great for suburbanites to use to commute elsewhere.
Stevie,
How are those apartments/condos doing at Steal Point?
I can’t see any from 95.
I didn’t see where a plan was approved by P & Z.
I didn’t see where building permits were taken out and paid for.
I didn’t see where there was a press release announcing a developer with a grandiose plan.
It’s been 20 years, Steve. What are they waiting for?
Or are you suggesting we should figure 25 years after the PT Barnum Station is built we can hope to see some plans for the 2,000 apartments you are talking about?
Well gee, Bob. Maybe they are waiting for a road to enter the site. Now you want to see everything happening simultaneously? Maybe you support low-income housing on the site? It was just a few months ago you were stating how Bass Pro would never break ground. I will safely assume once Steelpointe is open to the public and thousands of cars park there, they can start the housing and hotels. The site will have amenities that will attract some people and it will be a new community.
Gabrielle, this was my point. If you of all people do not get my point then I give up. Can I be the only person who is totally excited about this project? Now, daily there are 150,000 cars passing the site that do not know or care about the order of these projects. They see workers, bricks and mortar. They see Bridgeport coming to life.
If all anyone can do is criticize another for his or her opinion then there is no solution to the greater problems. The moral of the story is, don’t be a part of the problem by complaining. Be a part of the SOLUTION. End of story.
Bridgeport Kid, I totally agree!
I think Steve A gets a little crazy with his posts but I agree with him about the train station. Transit is one of the best things Bridgeport can do to grow this city. Also, I drove from Stratford to Black rock last night on city streets and the area around Bass Pro and going downtown looked really good. A hell of a lot better than 10 years ago.
There was a famous study by one of the top economists in the country recently that emphasized the importance in transit of alleviating generational poverty:
www .nytimes.com/2013/07/22/business/in-climbing-income-ladder-location-matters.html
Gee thanks, Bridgeport Rising. I didn’t think my posts were crazy but I am grateful at least a few can see the future of this city through nonpolitical eyes. It is not about the politician it is about the vision that ultimately benefits our city. Thanks for the response.
Keep on chooglin’. Another train station would be another reason why Bridgeport is getting better every day. It’s like building new lanes on I-95. It increases the playing field for development by serving as a linchpin for an area of town worthy of investment. Moving people with less traffic is a winning formula and with train stations come supermarkets.
In Bridgeport, “transit-oriented development” means, per Jim Himes, “making Bridgeport the regional ‘housing hub'” per the state economic development plan “One Coast, One Future.”
“Housing hub” translates as “servants quarters,” which means “no big tax base for Bridgeport; no local, living-wage jobs for Bridgeport.”
Just as the 25-8 Connector was played up as being “the thing” that would open up Bridgeport for redevelopment and jobs, so the new train station and related workforce housing is being played up as “the thing” that will revitalize the East Side. All lies. It is all being done for outside interests to Bridgeport’s detriment. Either the present administration is complicit in the scheme to further exploit Bridgeport, or they are truly gullible and incompetent. (Which is it Brett, David?)
By the way; the Seaview Avenue Corridor project is a 25-8-type, neighborhood-destroying scheme (linked to the train station development and the stealthily developing feeder barge port at Steal Point) that will further undermine Bridgeport’s short- and long-term well-being.
25-8 billboard idea: “BRIDGEPORT: 50 years of drinking the regional Kool-Aid and still not stopping to take a pee.”
Kohut,
This is what I don’t get about your argument. If Bridgeport becomes a “servants’ quarters,’ doesn’t that actually mean people will be living here and those people will be working? That large population will draw businesses in to serve those people.
A lot of places start as bedroom communities. There is nothing wrong with that.