Sunday, November 10, The Hartford Courant, Ken Gosselin

The USS Hartford’s shipboard bell is in storage at the Travelers Cos. in downtown Hartford.

A plaque commemorating the Civil War-era military vessel is squirreled away at the city’s convention center. The whereabouts of the bell’s clapper isn’t known for sure, but it is believed to be in a basement of Constitution Plaza, far below the outdoor mall where the bell was displayed for six decades.

Those pieces of history could come back together now that a more prominent — some say, respectful — location for displaying the bell has been found along Hartford’s riverfront. On Mortensen Riverfront Plaza atop the grand staircase rising from Columbus Boulevard near the Founders Bridge, an obscure ticketing booth would be renovated to display the 300 pound-plus bell.

The bell would provide a historical and seafaring connection at the same location where Hartford once was a port of trade and witnessed the departures and arrivals of the local members of the military. The artifact also could help illuminate Hartford’s broader economic ties with the U.S. military as well as lesser known stories about military service connected to the city.

Other alternative display locations were considered, including the nearby Connecticut Convention Center. But the convention center is not open to the public year-round, so the riverfront plaza — if all local approvals were secured — was deemed the best location. Mortensen plaza, operated and maintained by Riverfront Recapture for the city, was designed to reconnect the city to its riverfront cut off in the 1960s by interstate highway construction.

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October 29, The Hartford Courant, Don Stacom

The city of Hartford and Riverfront Recapture are eying an ambitious schedule for $7 million of construction to have Batterson Park available to the public again next July, a decade after it was shut down.

The park’s chief feature, a 145-acre pond, won’t reopen for swimming, at least for the foreseeable future. But visitors will be able to use a splash pad, covered picnic pavilions with table and grills, a kayak and canoe launch, a fishing pier, a bird watching tower, a playground and trails through the property, according to design consultants.

“This is more of a passive park: trails, picnic areas, pavilions, a boat launch,” Michael Zaleski, president and chief executive officer of Riverfront Recapture, told a small audience at a Hartford-sponsored public meeting last week to update progress on Batterson.

The nonprofit agency hasn’t signed a contract yet, but the state and the city of Hartford anticipate it will take on day-to-day management of Batterson after the renovation.

The remodeled park won’t have ballfields or other facilities for team sports, large-scale concerts or plays, but will include a large event lawn and parking for about 100 cars, according to the design plan. The new design hasn’t been formally accepted yet, but officials are making presentations this month to show it to residents.

Read the full story here.