At each of the three public meetings for the Downtown North plan in 2013, a stadium was not mentioned. In fact, it seemed like news to Utile that the XL Center would be looking for options to move for expansion. When proponents of the XL Center raised this concern, the response seemed to suggest that there would not really be room for this type of facility at any of the vacant parcels in the area being dubbed “Downtown North.”
What was discussed: a grocery store, smaller retail and restaurants, and academic uses which would connect Capital Community College and the University of Saint Joseph School of Pharmacy to Capital Prep Magnet School and Rensselaer.
The plan, ambitious and somewhat flawed, did pay attention to keeping developments at what is called a human scale. This creates an environment more conducive to walking and cycling. There had been talk of housing, which raised concerns about gentrification, but in any case, these units would not be in a high rise.
The Hartford Community Loan Fund had been working with a tenant and the City of Hartford on bringing a grocery store to this area. With UConn entering the picture, it had the possibility of being placed on hold, but this week, the City and UConn made it official that the college would be moving into the former Hartford Times building. In theory, this would mean that the grocery store would get the green light for the area near Main and Trumbull.
Curveball
Today, Mayor Segarra announced that the New Britain Rock Cats would be moving to a stadium at 1214 Main Street (between Trumbull and Pleasant) in April 2016. All of those Downtown North meetings came after the time frame given for when Mayor Segarra originally entered secret talks about moving the Rock Cats to Hartford. This raises questions about transparency, as well as questions about how money is being spent.
Why had the stadium not been mentioned at any of those meetings that Thom Deller had taken part in?
The Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) says it found out about the stadium “the same time as everyone else.”
On Monday, Erin Stewart, the mayor of New Britain, tweeted:
Today, Mayor Stewart posted again:
At Wednesday’s press conference, Segarra said that he thought he would have “unanimous” support from City Council when this goes to vote, but comments from at least one councilperson suggest that not all are completely going to bat for this development.
Since Monday, we have spoken with people on the street, in bars, in parks, and online about the stadium. Not a single Hartford resident we have spoken with has been overly optimistic about this move. Most have had a negative impression of the mayor’s judgment on this, along with that of the plan itself. A few have simply not known what to think of it.
Balking
In Hartford, where there is a perpetual struggle to balance the City’s budget, residents are raising questions about who will be funding the stadium, a legitimate question when poor maintenance of parks and other spotty services are explained by the lack of funds. Recently, the Martin Luther King Elementary School was told there was no bond money available to fund repairs for the school.
No solid numbers have been provided about how much this would cost or exactly how it would be funded. No itemized explanation of the dollar amount has been given. Segarra said that the maximum cost City Council said it would support was $60 million in bonds, but that does not include the $1.7 million to acquire one parcel of land. The City already owns most of the land on which this would be built. Segarra said this would be City-funded, with no State participation. To date, the financial aspect has not been put into layperson’s terms, and no explanation given for why $60 million was the figure settled on.
Jamil Ragland, who works in Hartford and lives a few blocks north of where this stadium is slated to be built is, like many residents, underwhelmed. “I think it’s incredibly ironic how short-sighted this proposal is,” he said, “given the long-term affects it will have on the city.”
Ragland said, “There’s clear evidence from all around the country that sports teams do not work as economic drivers, and we’re going to have another dead end like Dillon Stadium sitting right in the middle of the city, except [the yet-to-be-named baseball stadium will have] the distinction of being completely divorced from the cultural, social and economic realities of the city which will surround it.”
Others have asked why this stadium is planned for Downtown instead of in or near Colt Park, where people already gather for baseball games. Some have asked what have happened to the plans to bring professional soccer to Hartford.
There are concerns that surface lots with remain indefinitely, even when every plan discussed in recent years involves trying to reduce or remove them. Segarra said at the press conference that there would be no need for additional parking; yet, the rendering clearly shows two parking garages that are neither labeled nor explained. It also includes new buildings not described during the press conference.
There are those who believe that the stadium would be a way to justify the expensive and also unpopular New Britain-to-Hartford Busway/CTfastrak project, and others who simply do not understand where this decision came from. There have been inquiries about why money would be spent on a stadium that could sit unused for part of the year. Segarra said he hoped the “facility could be used year round” and bring in the “collegiate community.”
The Downtown North area, which was supposedly about to be changed to be more walkable, is now going to be about, in Segarra’s words, “harnessing” the cars that are in the area. Mayor Segarra said on Wednesday that he has “worked really hard to increase vibrancy in the city, especially downtown.”
At the press conference, he said the “team transfer” was primarily an economic decision and one to keep the Rock Cats from leaving Connecticut. When asked what the “factsheet” numbers were based on, we got no clear answers regarding the estimated 600 new, full-time permanent jobs, 900 construction jobs, $2 million in annual revenue, or $8 million in annual hotel, food, and beverage spending. Nothing was said about how many jobs would be lost in New Britain, making the only certainty the construction job gains.
Robert Cotto, Jr., a Hartford resident, asked on Facebook, “Will there be a net gain of jobs or simply people that work in New Britain now but will be counted as working Hartford?” He pointed out that “[t]he jobs related to a stadium are likely to be low-wage, temporary service jobs.”
With the City about to spend $60 million borrowed dollars, plus interest, there is a question of how long it would take for Hartford to break even. Would this happen before the Rock Cats’ lease is up?
When asked why the team was leaving New Britain, Rock Cats’ owner Josh Solomon dodged the question, saying only that it had fulfilled the obligations of the lease in New Britain and that the lease was up.
For now, Solomon believes that Hartford would be “building an entertainment cornerstone” in what Segarra called an “easily accessible” region, where I-84 and I-91 come together.
Not everyone is thrilled that the City is willing to commit to this kind of debt. Across social media, residents and those who work in Hartford have asked about how this move is possible when we have public schools without libraries, when there never seems to be enough resources for snow removal. And still others find nothing innovative or future-thinking about this latest development.
One resident, who said he is emailing councilpersons to express his opposition, aptly noted that nobody on City Council seems to be on Twitter, where there has been a lot of dissent.
One Strikeout, No Balls
Attempts to get questions answered by Mayor Segarra and Thom Deller have been fruitless; after seven hours, no response has been received from either. The questions sent to them through the “Director of Communications & New Media” for the City of Hartford were:
1. What does this mean for the plans to open a grocery store in the Downtown North area?
2. How does this fit into the Downtown North plan to make the area more walkable? The plans discussed over the last year show human scale development. The stadium is the opposite of that.
3. What kind of outreach has the City done regarding stakeholders in the area?
4. When will there be a public comment session regarding this plan?
We were unable to speak at length to Rex Fowler of the Hartford Community Loan Fund, but did receive a brief acknowledgement and plan to chat in the future. Real Hartford will follow up as needed on how the grocery store may be impacted by the stadium.
According to the City Council meeting agenda released today, there will be a public hearing for those interested in giving their opinions on the stadium, July 21st. The item has been added to the agenda for June 9th. If you can not make it to the City Council meeting, you can always send email or place calls to the elected officials. Councilperson Larry Deutsch said, “There needs to be and will be more discussion during the coming days before [Monday’s] meeting.”
For background on Downtown North:
17 July 2013
Aspirations for North Downtown, West Downtown, and a Sliver of Clay Arsenal and North Meadows
23 October 2013
Public Comment Futile on Downtown North Park Design
12 December 2013
Final Downtown North Design Meeting
3 April 2014
Marketing Downtown North
Bruce rubenstein
The numbers do not add up for this deal. Why can’t some readers of this blog that also think this deal is a loser,take the lead and organize a citywide resistance to this terrible deal.
Kerri Provost
Bruce,
There are people doing just that.
lobonick
absolutely an incredible moment.. a couple additional points on the analysis .. real Hartford’s is superior as usual..
one: new Britain rock cats want out of new Britain for some reason.. can’t be stadium attendance.. they sell out a lot of games.. something personal between the rock cats and new Britain…
two: what proposal on this particular lot is better than the baseball proposal ? answer: unknown.. that analysis has not been done.. key question: is there a better option for that lot than baseball and some absurd stadium in Hartford ?…
[note: from Hartford’s perspective (re: active politicians).. doesn’t matter.. just sign the deal for the most $$$… the analysis on the issue would take too long.. I am a politician.. generally I only care about right now…]
three: traffic ??… driving on I-84 is absurd at the moment all the time.. a baseball game ?.. please.. that would make I-84 (and maybe I -91) completely toxic…
[note: any discussion on amending or changing I -84 for 2 billion dollars really doesn’t apply to this analysis]
four: public funds for this stadium ?… the capitalists can pay for it.. keep the public money for the department of social services.. they can use it…
Bernardo
Great write-up. Wondering what the reasoning is behind the theory that the project is intended (at least in-part) to justify the new Hartford/New Britain busway. Are you envisioning that the New Britain residents who work for the Rock Cats now will be kept-on after the team moves? I wonder how many are employed by the stadium in New Britain, versus those who are employed directly by the team and would be more likely to continue after the move.
Kerri Provost
I guess the people with that theory would have to chime in. I’m reporting what others have said.
Larry Deutsch
This commentary is accurate (as always true for Kerri’s reports. It’s absolutely true that many questions remain. The actual text of the Segarra administration’s Resolution should become available on-line (for now, it’s only overall Agenda at http://www.hartford.gov/government/council agenda/item #10, with #8). [Also of interest: look at #2, 5, 9.] Meantime, public should come: Mon 6/9 6pm public 3-min comment, then Council meeting 7pm. Can consider or speak in favor of: a. amendment (to fortify Community Benefits portions, financing and debt payoff plans, etc..); or b. postponement to get and publicly release more info, and wait for scheduled formal Public Hearing on Mon. July 21 7pm (no final action can be taken by City Council ’till after that, though administration will probably continue working on contract terms, claiming urgency, which may be real, as business deal and to secure state assistance). Meantime, people can discuss and form specific amendments, terms, demands, Community Benefits, as conditions for proceeding – and feel free to call or send emails to all (not just WFP) Council members with their thoughts (per Kerri’s link above). –Larry Deutsch, Council (“Minority Leader”)
Kerri Provost
Larry,
Thanks for speaking on the record.
Christopher Brown
I don’t see this stadium idea (which I think is asinine for many reasons) would help justify the busway. If anything, the RockCats’ existing stadium in helps justify the busway, being a viable attraction for Hartford-to-New Britain travel.
Kerri Provost
Having lived a few blocks from that stadium years back, I can say that the only time I ever got stuck in traffic in New Britain was when there was a game.
The problem is that you guys are trying to apply logic to the busway at all.
Tom
The fact that these talks were ongoing for 18 months is unsettling, but the real question will be the cost. The standard line for proponents of publicly-financed stadiums is that they have intangible effects on a city’s pride and sense of place that make up for the shortfall in hard returns. I do think this would be good for Hartford as a place. Minor league baseball is a great thing to watch, and and I think a lot of cube dwellers downtown would be willing to stroll over and watch a game after work. But $60-100 Million is a lot of money. I want to see a breakdown of the benefits, from rent to sales taxes to jobs, etc. I’d also want to see what the Rock Cats are getting. One story said the rent would come from a share of the naming rights to the stadium. Whether or not that’s accurate, there will be naming rights, ad sales, concession income, etc. for the stadium. Who gets the rest of that money? Who pays for upkeep? Who pays for the inevitable “renovations” in 10-15 years? Any chance that local colleges could use the park for a fee?
If all this is explained, and it becomes clear that a) the team owners are not getting a big fat windfall at the expense of the city, and b) the city can bear the cost without wrecking the budget, then I’d be in favor. But a lot of cities have inked a lot of deals with sports franchises that amounted to obscene giveaways to owners. Hartford should be ready to pay for what would be a real civic asset, but it shouldn’t get played.
Bruce Rubenstein
who can we get in touch with concerning the organized resistence to this terrible deal?
Kerri Provost
Folks who are organizing are welcome to post details here. This does get read by people in City Hall, so there’s a chance organizers might not feel like divulging the specifics.
Bruce Rubenstein
Segarra has a tendency to treat his Hartford citizens like children who need his “guidance” but have no voice in any decision that he makes and Segarra when faced with the choice of supporting everyday folks or the wealthy and powerful always goes with the wealthy and powerfull-witness his change of mind on the Flower Street issue.Lets hope that folks go to City Hall Monday night and make their feelings known about this terrible deal.