Good afternoon and Happy New Year!
The Bridgeport Downtown Special Services District will produce a regular blog as part of InfoBridgeport.com in order to inform property owners, businesses, residents and stakeholders of projects and events that will impact daily life within downtown.
Wall Street has been closed in order to accommodate a gas line repair. Wall Street will reopen by Tuesday evening (January 3rd).
The City of Bridgeport’s Department of Public Facilities has completed the process to remove leaves from streets within downtown. Public Facilities staff may undertake additional leaf maintenance/removal into the first week of January.
City Public Facilities staff is coordinating additional tree planting within the downtown, specifically Public Facilities staff and SLM Northeast Horticultural Services will plant trees in the vicinity of the on/off ramps for Exits 2 and 3 from the Route 8/25 connector. Public Facilities staff has established a formal system by which property owners may request the City to plant a tree at their location through the Adopt-A-Tree Program. Property owners that wish to participate in the City’s Adopt-A-Tree Program may contact Mr. Steve Hladun at Steve.Hladun@bridgeportct.gov or visit http://www.bridgeportct.gov/ParksRecreation/Pages/AdoptATree.aspx to download the request form.
New park under construction in front of the City Hall Annex on Broad Street.
The City Public Facilities Department is nearing the completion of the a public open space located on the grounds of City Hall Annex near the vicinity of State and Broad Streets. Work on the open space will soon end for the winter. The formal opening of the public space will take place in the Spring 2012.
The City has now completed all paving for the current calendar year. The City has also completed the installation of new handicapped accessible ramps at intersections where paving has taken place.
The City will initiate construction on the first phase of the Police Memorial during the second half of January 2012. This first phase will conclude by March 2012 (weather permitting).
The City Public Facilities Department is now finalizing the Parks and Open Space Master Plan. The City will forward this document to the City’s Common Council by the close of January 2012 for final review and approval. More information can be found on the city of Bridgeport website here: http://www.slideshare.net/royerb1/sasaki-bridgeport-parks-master-plan-final-presentation
Brought to you by the Bridgeport Downtown Special Services District
great stuff! keep it up.
We went to Epernay on Friday evening, January, 27th, and were happily surprised to see more activity than usual Downtown – more cars, more people. I can’t help but think that even more people would patronize the downtown if there were better lighting and more police presence. How about a foot patroleman on each corner? It worked in NYC, why not in Bridgeport??
On Sunday I went to a lecture at the Burroughs and Saden Library. Very nice, but no parking!! The City says they want to encourage people to come downtown, but it’s not a “user-friendly” place evenings and weekends.
I agree with Joan, I take my family to NYC on the weekends and we spend our money there instead of Bridgeport, much more to do and NY city has improved greatly in terms of nightlife and entertainment. I left NYC about 10 years ago maybe I should head back. Bridgeport should stop dragging its feet and revitalize their downtown area and make it business friendly, it still has very few choices for dining and I would not go out late night since there never seems to be police in Bridgeport.
Joan – there’s a ton of parking downtown, especially on the weekend. Maybe some better signage directing people to it would help. Eric – I’m a native New Yorker who relocated to the Bridgeport area. I love NY, and I’m in the city quite often. But I love going out here in downtown Bridgeport. Do we have as many restaurants as NYC? Of course not. But I can go out for dinner and drinks with friends at Epernay or Bare or Joseph’s or Ralph n Rich’s, catch a film at The Bijou or a concert at The Klein, say our goodbyes, and be home in 10 minutes. Things ARE getting better here.
We went to the Bijou this weekend. Great movie, plenty of people, but.. it’s dark, empty and scary on the streets. Need better lighting. Need to make people feel safe when they are downtown.
Does anyone with any power read this blog??
Thanks for your comment Joan. Glad you enjoyed the Bijou Theatre, it’s a treasure. Stay tuned, they’ll be announcing some exciting new shows shortly. The DSSD is working with the city and the business community to keep our streets safe and welcoming. We recently added a new Downtown Ambassador program, and the Lafayette Square parking garage at Bijou Square is now accessible 24/7. Keep an eye on this website and my blog for more info. Regards, Mike.
Bob, thanks for the information. I did see that they opened the Melt Cafe and I like the arrangment they have with the Bijou wine shop. Where you can purchase wine at the wine shop next door and you can drink in the cafe by paying a small fee. I like to walk, hopefully Bridgeport will do more in terms of little shops occupying the downtown area so that you can take a little walk and visit shops. A good model would be downtown Faifield where I when to dinner and walked the streets and saw people just sitting and talking and having a good time. That is what we need downtown. You are right so sorry for the late response.