Local
Hartford applies for "Greening America's Capitals" program
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Jul 20, 2010 - 6:18 PM

July 20, 2010 - The City of Hartford is going all out to go green. The City has submitted its grant application for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “Greening America’s Capitals” program. Hartford is committed to sustainable and green development and has proposed the “Capitol Avenue Visioning” as the project for investment.

“Hartford seeks to become a symbol of being environmentally responsible and economically efficient. The ‘Greening America’s Capitals’ program is an opportunity for us to further develop and showcase in a comprehensive manner the ideas and projects that have been in the works that will help grow and sustain us for years to come,” said Mayor Pedro E. Segarra.

This is “big picture thinking” incorporates Hartford’s ‘One City, One Plan’ for conservation and development that promotes livable neighborhoods, protects the City’s natural environment, and enhances mobility through public transit and citywide pedestrian and bike systems. It also encompasses the iQuilt project that is an arts-based economic development plan and the I-84 Viaduct planning process for the long-term reconstruction or replacement of the I-84 highway overpass.

The application is not for a monetary grant but for access to a consultant for services including conceptual design developed in conjunction with the stakeholders of the targeted area. In the case of the “Capitol Avenue Visioning,” it would connect and cultivate as well as showcase and strategize the best and the brightest of assets along Capitol Avenue that help make Hartford so special; from Pulaski Circle to Columbia Street in the Frog Hollow National Historic District; from Holy Trinity Church to Sigourney Street in the Asylum Hill neighborhood.

“This is about a robust public participation that will knit together residents, business, faith communities, governments, and all of our stakeholders in healthier, greener, and better connected Hartford,” said David Panagore, the City’s Chief Operating Officer and Director of Development Services.

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