Asylum Hill Minus Capital West

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

Buh-Bye Butt Ugly?

Yesterday, Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra announced the City’s intention to acquire and demolish the building on corner of Main and Trumbull. He noted that it is a “critically important project” and is “an economic development priority for a number of reasons.” David Panagore, Hartford COO and Director of Development Services, said that they expect to have a purchase agreement in place by Thursday and are prepared to begin eminent domain action if needed. Exciting news,

Demolition in Detroit

Friday’s Wall Street Journal article about the demolition of historic homes in Detroit came at an interesting time. The previous evening we had attended the Hartford Preservation Alliance awards event, a gathering to celebrate the architectural history of our city and the efforts of community members to restore and reuse buildings rather than knock them down. Detroit has a rich architectural history, as can be seen on sites like Forgotten Detroit and Detroit1701.org. Some of

Active Development in Downtown Hartford

Below are recent pictures of two big development projects in Downtown Hartford. The first is the steel structure of the Front Street District, across Columbus Boulevard from the Convention Center. It’s exciting to see the project underway after years of delays and other challenges. The second is the Broadcast House being torn down to make room for the AI Technology Center on the corner of Columbus Boulevard and State Street. Demolition began last week and

Bye-Bye Butt Ugly Building

Finally! The lovingly-termed “Butt Ugly Building” at the corner of Trumbull and Main Street in Hartford may be seeing its last days. The Courant reported this morning that the owner has filed paperwork to have the building demolished. You probably have seen this eyesore if you’ve ventured anywhere near Downtown Hartford in the past several years. Here are the front and back profiles… Personally, I would like to see the building imploded, not demolished. We