Friday, March 15, 2013

Week in Review: March 9-15, 2013


by Lauren Milka
DTHartford Staff 

           The past week in downtown Hartford has yielded some interesting news stories as we head into warmer and longer days with spring fast approaching. This past weekend, we reported on the upcoming 42nd Annual Saint Patrick's Day Parade downtown, coincidentally the same weekend as the Women's Basketball Big East Tournament, which we discussed earlier this week as well. CTNewsJunkie, a blog about greater Hartford that we follow, posted photos from the parade, which can be seen here: Photos of 42nd Annual Parade
            The event had incredible turnout, as parade goers utilized the parking lots and garages that were made available for the day. On a chilly but sunny day, Connecticut residents and families cheered and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the annual event.

            After the announcement of a new UConn campus in downtown Hartford, there has been much speculation about where the new campus will exactly be in the city. A writer for Cityline, a blog of The Courant, discussed this on Thursday, speculating that the new campus could be in North downtown, "cultivating community along downtown's border with the North End neighborhoods", "near both the Capital Preparatory Magnet School, the Rensselaer at Hartford Graduate Center and Capital Community College". Cityline: New Developments about UConn Campus
This new campus proposal is one of many, as the campus will open sometime in the fall as a substitute for the closing of the West Hartford branch. This area would certainly make a new home for college and graduate students looking to study in an area that would add new shopping and dining opportunities not too far from the campus.

            In an upcoming post on our blog, one of our DTHartford Staff members will report on an upcoming project called CTfastrack, a bus line proposed to go between Hartford and New Britain. Real Hartford's blogger Kerri Provost weighs in on this project, showing how the construction will unfortunately mean some road closings while the project is completed, most notably Flower Street, running parallel to Broad Street between Capitol Avenue and Farmington Avenue. The new transportation route will ultimately benefit those who live and work in downtown Hartford, but the construction to get to those benefits is ruffling the feathers of those who need to commute and find the overall project a bit of a headache. The closing of Flower Street is only to ensure safety, but the delays that are probable in the commutes in the near future will be a sore subject.

            If you follow Rhianna on Twitter, you might have noticed she cancelled her concert in Boston because of bad sore throat. She is scheduled to appear in the XL Center downtown tonight to continue her Diamonds World Tour. Tickets are still available for tonight's show, available through a link on Sound Check, a Hartford Courant blog about upcoming shows in Hartford and Connecticut.

            If Top 40 music is not something you're looking to fill your free time with while you're downtown, Java, a blog on the Courant's website, is promoting the new exhibit at the Mark Twain House and Museum entitled "The Gilded Age of Hartford", which was celebrated the same night as the Twain House's new executive director, Cindy Lovell. The new executive director has many restoration plans in store for the home, and is now lovingly being referred to as "Hartford's new head cheerleader". With such a positive attitude toward an historic landmark in the city, it will be good to keep up with Lovell's initiatives.

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