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Water Wings
Developers harbor big hopes for Harbour Place
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Business New Haven
4/20/1998
By: Susan Banfield
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“A mini-Baltimore” is how several people have described the Conroy Development Corp.'s Harbour Place project. Indeed, it is an ambitious undertaking. The “anchor” of Harbour Place will be a large ship which will be permanently docked in Bridgeport Harbor, easily visible from I-95. It will be decorated by day and lit up at night, providing a festive introduction to the project and a new symbol for the Park City. The ship will also function as a hotel, restaurant and nightclub.
Other hotel and conference facilities will include a 250-room suites hotel and a 400-room full-service hotel which, with its 2,000-seat ballroom, will make it one of the largest and most modern conference facilities in Fairfield County.
Its developers hope Harbour Place will capitalize on its waterfront location with extensive water-related activities. There will be a museum that features classic wooden boats and showcases the maritime history of Bridgeport.
In concert with the museum, wooden-boat regattas will be held. There will be a rebuilt marina and, nearby, an area to be called “Mariners' Cove” featuring a wooden boat maintenance and restoration facility and school, as well as educational demonstrations of the boatbuildiers' craft for the public.
There will be a cruise ship dock where visiting vessels from Newport, Halifax, N.S. and other northern destinations will come in. It is hoped that the docks will also be used by visiting tall ships. Water taxis and a high-speed ferry capable of transporting passengers to Wall Street in about an hour are also among the water-related facilities of the project.
Finally, Harbour Place will harbor approximately 1.5 million square feet of retail and eating facilities. The hope is to lure visitors, sightseers and shoppers from throughout the region.
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