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Turning the Corner
In the once benighted Park City, there's a whole lot of shakin' going on
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Business New Haven
7/10/2000
By: Linda G. Mele
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Bridgeport was incorporated as a town in 1821, encompassing sections of Fairfield and Stratford.
Legally incorporated as a city in 1836, it became home to a variety of manufacturing concerns including fabricators of firearms, corsets, brass goods, valves, electric appliances, airplanes, specialty instruments, machine tools, wiring devices and aluminum and zinc castings.
Connecticut's largest city is also known as “The City That Barnum Built” after showman and mayor (1875-76) P.T. Barnum turned the port city into a major manufacturing center during the 19th century.
Some of his achievements included bringing in Elias Howe and his Singer sewing machines and building and donating the Barnum Museum to the city. He laid out parks and roads and even designed Mountain Grove Cemetery, where he is buried.
Bridgeport was also home to the original Frisbee pie, whose “plate” is now better known than the pie it housed.
Bridgeport is also home to a municipal airport and the ferry that brings people to and from the Long Island community of Port Jefferson, N.Y. It boasts the largest deep-water port between Boston and New York.
The Remington Corp., renowned for its electric razors, once supplied ammunition for the Russian Revolution and World War II. In recognition of its strategic importance, Nike missile bases (dismantled in the early 1990s) were erected in neighboring communities to protect the city.
It was during that period, however, a depressed economy led to the city being christened “the poorest city in the richest county [Fairfield] in the U.S.”
As was the case with other cities in the Northeast, the cost of doing business in Connecticut proved too high and many manufacturing operations headed to lower-labor-cost states such as South Carolina and Texas.
A decade ago, Bridgeport was bankrupt and faced a $20 million deficit. Crime was out of control and businesses were fleeing the Park City.
The outlook was bleak when Democratic Mayor Joseph Ganim assumed office in 1991, but he balanced the budget, instituted tax cuts, made infrastructure repairs, encouraged businesses to expand and stay in the city and saw the crime rate dip to a 20-year low.
Over the years Bridgeport has transitioned from an industrial to a service-based economy, but continues its proud manufacturing tradition, though on a reduced scale from its heyday.
The Park City is also home to more than 1,350 acres of parks, including 32 public parks, 27 playgrounds, 40 tennis courts, a public golf course, softball fields and the state's only zoo (the Beardsley Zoological Gardens).
The Community Garden Program encompasses 30 sites throughout the city and is always looking for additional vacant lots that could be used for gardening.
In addition to Beardsley, other attractions include Captain's Cove Seaport, the Discovery Museum, the Housatonic Museum of Art, Klein Memorial Auditorium, the Downtown Cabaret Theater and the Polka Dot Playhouse.
According to the Bridgeport Economic Resource Center (BERC), new capital improvements and economic development projects are in progress throughout greater Bridgeport and more than $2 billion in public- and private-sector funding is being spent on new development and infrastructure improvements.
Projects completed or in the works include:
n Housatonic Community Technical College was completed in 1996 and is now located in the former Lafayette Plaza.
n Downtown capital improvements are in the works to enhance the city's image.
n $1.3 million renovation of the Downtown Cabaret Theater was completed in 1995.
n The city acquired the Chase Bank Building in 1998 and today it is home to City Hall's executive offices. The old offices at 45 Lyon Terrace will become the central office of the city's public schools.
n The former Days Inn on Lafayette Boulevard is now a $4 million, 42,000-square-foot retail facility.
n The Bridgeport Energy plant represents $190 million worth of private-sector investment in the city.
n More than 700,000 people annually are served by the new $4 million Ferry Terminal.
n A new $10 million State Police barracks has been located downtown.
n Across State Street next to Modern Plastics is the newly built West End Police Station, home base for 67 officers.
n Restoration of McLevy Green in 1996 was a major milestone in adding to the city's new image.
n The $19 million Ballpark at Harbor Yard is home to the Bridgeport Bluefish. In 1998, the 5,300-seat stadium attracted more than 300,000 fans.
n The new $2.3 million, 225-seat Polka Dot Playhouse continues to attract visitors.
City spokesman Joseph Gresko said that a host of incentives are offered to businesses that seek to expand or locate in the city.
These include corporate income and property tax exemptions, corporate
sales tax exemptions, state and federal Enterprise Zone benefits, utility benefits, employment training grants, brownfields tax credits and Connecticut Development Authority financing programs.
Officials say that a host of projects that will enhance the desirability of living and doing business in the city are on the drawing board, including:
n Downtown Phase V continues city's efforts to “Clean and Green” the city and provide attractive streetscapes.
n A $50 million federal grant will fund a state-of-the-art transit hub.
n A 185,000-square-foot skating rink near the existing Harbor Yard Ballpark is in the works.
n A new $35 million, 10,000-seat arena in the works could host ice hockey (the American Hockey League has awarded the Park City a franchise for the 2001-02 season), wrestling, concerts and other special events. $5 million was approved from the bond commission for planning.
n The City Center is a proposed $20 million renovation of the former 140,000-square-foot City Trust building and adjacent 325-car garage.
n Phase IV of the Lafayette Plaza renovation project will include construction of as much as 200,000 square feet of Class A office space.
n Housatonic Community & Technical College wants to expand into the adjacent Sears building.
n Between 225,000 and 500,000 square feet of Class A space is planned for the area across the street from the People's Bank Headquarters.
n A $950 million mixed-use development project has secured $200 million in public funding and will include 1.5 million square feet of retail, dining and entertainment space, a public waterfront promenade, three hotels with 800 rooms, two office building with 600,000 square feet of space, museums and a conference facility, amphitheater and a large ballroom.
n Several developers have expressed an interest in conversion of the former 110,000-square-foot Read's Department Store into office use.
n The proposed 435-acre Lake Success Business Park includes 353 acres in the city of Bridgeport and 82 acres in Stratford. The site will be developed as a state-of-the-art business park including industrial building sites, office space, retail shopping, hotel facilities, waterfront restaurants, and a sports/fitness center. The park will be located on the former Remington Arms property located in the Northeast corner of Bridgeport.
It will be serviced by the proposed $125 million Seaview Avenue corridor improvements. The new Seaview Avenue access road will connect the Harbor, I-95, the East End Industrial Corridor and Lake Success. The new road will also provide local industry, area employers, Bridgeport Hospital and residential areas, with a modern transportation access way.
It is currently in environmental remediation overseen by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
n Several development projects underway in the city's West End. The former 500,000-square-foot vacant Bryant Electric building has been demolished and in its place Chaves Bakery has begun to lay the foundation for its new bakery and sidewalk café. The remaining vacant land is being remediated to accommodate a second manufacturer.
According to Gresko, the $2 million, 900-vehicle commuter garage is about 95-percent complete and should be open by the end of July.
“Overall, crime continues to drop,” Gresko says, “and the 2000-2001, $393.3 million budget gives us a mill rate of 65 mills.”
While that's still high compared to smaller neighboring communities, the incentives offered by the city make Bridgeport a competitive consideration for any business, Gresko says.
The projects that are already underway or in the planning stage are expected to create more than 16,000 new jobs and some $40 million in new tax revenue for the city.
With an estimated population of 139,880 by 2005 and, as reported by the Bridgeport Regional Business Council, a total of 275 manufacturers, 544 retail/trade establishments, 1,056 service businesses and 215 finance, insurance and real estate firms, Bridgeport has turned an important corner and looks on its way to becoming a city of which good ol' P.T. would be justly proud. BNH
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