Earlier this year, the City of Hartford led an effort to demolish the Capital West building, which hugged the Asylum Hill side of interstate 84. Now that the building is down, and the dust has settled, I find the difference striking.
Driving west on I84 through Downtown has a better feel without the vacant, windowless, Capital West dominating my view as I come around the corner. The new view is of Asylum Hill rising beyond the highway, with mid-rise apartment/condo buildings in front of The Hartford’s campus. This transitions around the next corner to Aetna’s campus, focusing my (an other travelers’) attention on the City’s businesses.
Despite having driven along Spring Street and Myrtle Street many times (though not regularly), I had forgotten how many residential buildings line those streets. Removing the large blighted building from the neighborhood will hopefully make the buildings that remain more inviting. Certainly they are well located within the City, just a modest walk from Downtown.
The decision to take down a building is not one that is made lightly. Demolition is expensive, and in many cases wasteful – especially for a structure that could be redeveloped and restored. Many older buildings also have architectural significance that contribute to the community independent of how they are actually used.
However, I don’t find myself missing Capital West or wondering what it could have been. There are enough other vacant or underutilized buildings in Downtown Hartford that seem much more likely to play a prominent role in Hartford’s future, and more worthy of our attention and energy.
Looking back, I really do think knocking down Capital West was addition by subtraction.
“There are enough other vacant or underutilized buildings in Downtown Hartford that seem much more likely to play a prominent role in Hartford’s future, and more worthy of our attention and energy.”
Here here!
I agree, Amy, it looks so much better. It’ll be interesting to see what this neighborhood looks like 5 years from now, especially if that elevated section of I-84 is lowered. When I first moved to Hartford I lived temporarily at an apartment on Myrtle Street and it was a great place with a great view of the skyline. Sadly the walk past Capitol West, and under 84 to get downtown was beyond creepy.