Hartford to Dedicate Site of Historic Field: A plaque to commemorate the site of one of the original eight National League baseball playing fields will take place today in Hartford. The Hartford Dark Blues played at the current site of the Church of the Good Shepherd from 1874-1876. The field was simply called the Baseball Grounds. Source: Hartford Courant
Old State House to be Controlled by State: After some furious negotiations finally came to a close, the state of Connecticut will hold control of the historic Old State House in Hartford. As part of the agreement between the state and the city, the Old State House will be maintained to the same standards as the current Capitol building. Negotiations were essentially in a stalemate until the state threatened to pull its interim funding on July 1. Without that funding, the historic building would have been forced to close. This jump started the talking, and the state signed a 99-year lease from the city. Source: Hartford Courant
Library Board Explores Reopening Two Branches: The Hartford Library Board is currently looking into how they can save enough money to allow them to reopen the Blue Hills Avenue and Mark Twain library branches that closed earlier in the month. The board was forced to close the two branches because of an $870,000 budget gap. Two proposals brought to the table include opening all nine of the city’s libraries for a mere three days a week, and another moving the children’s programming to alternate sites near the branches. While these would cut costs, the library would still need to lay-off employees and reduce programming across the board at all of their branches (including the main library) to make ends meet (assuming no additional funds are found). The situation could worsen, as the board expects to have to close an additional branch next year. Source: Hartford Courant
New Condo Project gets Green Light: The owners of the now closed Cher restaurant and lounge in North Providence have been given the green light to go forward with a project that would bring 12 condos to the site. The new condos will bear the name Rivers’ Edge Condominiums, and will feature two bedroom units with a classic New England feel to them. The location is right along the Woonasquatucket River. In order for the project to move forward, the owners had to get a special zoning variance approved, as the project called for one more condo than allowed under the current zoning regulations. Source: Providence Journal
Faulty Sewage System Drenches Boston Residents: These past weeks’ storms have certainly hit the area hard. As many as 47 claims from people living in Dorchester and South Boston have come into the city of sewage leaks (some of them doing considerable damage to property) affecting peoples’ homes. The city is currently going through all of the claims and, if they deem the leaks to be a result of negligence on their part, will reimburse the residents in entirety. A plan in South Boston is underway to prevent exactly what recently happened, with new storm drains being installed to handle exclusively storm runoff. Source: Boston Herald
Filed under: Approved Project, Boston, Connecticut, Funding, Government, Hartford, History, Infrastructure, Massachusetts, Providence, Residential, Rhode Island
