Joe Markley: No More Public Spending on XL Center

[Dooley]

My ct lingo isn't as current as others. Where exactly is DoNo?

Thanks Marty. I was too embarrassed to ask myself.

 

[CL82]

I was in Providence on Sat. I looked out the window from Providence Place and said to my wife..."Just imagine what Hartford could be with someone half as capable as these schmucks were".
we were both very sad for about 1 minute. Then I remembered I was heading to a brewery. Instant happiness.

 

[Kolumbo]

Downtown North. Essentially a block away from XL

Wouldn't that be Uptown?

 

[Drew]

Wouldn't that be Uptown?

They're putting the ball park in there and calling it "Downtown North"

I don't make the rules I just follow them (sometimes)

 

[Dooley]

They're putting the ball park in there and calling it "Downtown North"

I don't make the rules I just follow them (sometimes)

You hipster, you. I kid, I kid. I've lived in Connecticut for all but 2 years of my life and that's the first time I've heard or read DoNo. I'm not saying I hate it, just saying I never heard of it. The phrase makes me think of NoRA cupcakes in Middletown. Mmmmmmmmm cuuuuuppppppcccaaaaaaakkkkkkeeeeessssssssss.

 

[Kolumbo]

I know what SOHO stands for, but that's about it. I guess Tribeca falls in that category.

 

[uconnphil2016]

You hipster, you. I kid, I kid. I've lived in Connecticut for all but 2 years of my life and that's the first time I've heard or read DoNo. I'm not saying I hate it, just saying I never heard of it. The phrase makes me think of NoRA cupcakes in Middletown. Mmmmmmmmm cuuuuuppppppcccaaaaaaakkkkkkeeeeessssssssss.

NoRA cupcakes rules. Just in case you don't know, they have a new pop up store in West Hartford (Blue Back Square). I bought a gift card there for a Yankee swap and ended up stealing back my own gift because I like that place so freakin much.

 

[uconnphil2016]

On a more contentious note, I didn't read the article but agree with the headline that Hartford should be done with the business of further public funding for stadium projects (at least for the next 10+ years). A shiny, new XL center is going to do very, very little to improve Hartford's economic climate. What do you guys think, that people are going to suddenly decide to eat dinner in Hartford and move the family there because there's a little more cushion on their a** while they watch a basketball game? If there really is such an incredible profit to be made from building a new Hartford stadium, then a private developer will jump at the chance to fund the stadium...that's how the market works.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Let's use important metrics. Springsteen is playing just 21 cities and Providence isn't one of them.

And the number of residents of the actual city of Hartford at that show will be close to zero.

Providence has two colleges in town and actual urban residential that isn't gang land (not that a lot of it isn't gang land). U Hartford is as far away from downtown Hartford as it can be, and Trinity is the same on the south side. Hartford needs destinations...that means a civic center type building near a convention center that is then surrounded by bars, restaurants, breweries and expensive urban residential. It needs gentrification. It has since I was a kid.

I lived in South Boston for a couple of years from 2001-2003. The waterfront was nothing but Harpoon Brewery, the Seaport Hotel, a small concert venue and the world trade center. The rest was empty lots and empty buildings. Now it is the hottest location in the city. KC has had a similar renaissance in the power and light district...which used to be the red light/adult bookstore and strip club zone. It can be done.

 

[Dooley]

NoRA cupcakes rules. Just in case you don't know, they have a new pop up store in West Hartford (Blue Back Square). I bought a gift card there for a Yankee swap and ended up stealing back my own gift because I like that place so freakin much.

Very well played.

 

[Adios]

If Bridgeport can be revived (and it's in the process), so can Hartford. Hartford has way more than Bridgeport, besides Long Island Sound.

 

[upstater]

This is a potential precursor for everyone on the BY who thinks we can just snap our fingers & the Rent will be expanded.

I know there are supposedly drawings somewhere. I know that the footing are already in place.

All of that means nothing when it comes time to get the voters in the state of CT to approve a potential $100MM expense.

It will be approved in 10 minutes when the lawmakers understand that UConn's TV money will increase by $23m a year.

 

[upstater]

Hartford needs a master plan. What is the economic incentive to a new arena, when you can hardly produce an active city center, and have bad crime, crap neighborhoods. There are enough companies in Hartford, enough potential foot traffic, that could produce a decent enough city.

Hartford truly stinks. Sorry to those offended. UCONN grads are moving to West Hartford instead of Hartford. That really says it all.

Look at Providence, it's about 20 times nicer than it was in the 70's-80's. Thats with shoddy government too.

Several of the people I know who live in Providence commute to Mass. on the train. Providence has a little bit of the Fairfield Cty. thing happening.

 

[upstater]

First, you create a giant rest home with amenities in Chaplin to lure all the obstruction artists out of Mansfield. Then you build extra lanes on the roads into Storrs. Then you build a new DOMED football stadium on campus that also houses a separate court and rink. You take the Rent and you land a Major League Soccer franchise.

 

[FartMan69]

This kind of stuff really makes me wonder what the point of a two decade long "study" was to determine the viability of the XL Center. That in itself seemed like a waste of money to me. We all know the XL is an outdated dinosaur. We also all know there is zero incentive for people to go into downtown Hartford other than for work (and once 5:01 hits the clock, it empties quicker than a Rentschler Field parking lot).

Sports venues and the state of Connecticut go together like oil and water.

The concourses are paper thin and smell like melted hog fat, the roof tiles has mysterious brown stains, the lights buzz louder than the fans and the building looks like a housing project in Moscow

They spent millions of dollars for professional studies and they could have just asked me.

 

[Waquoit]

First, you create a giant rest home with amenities in Chaplin to lure all the obstruction artists out of Mansfield. Then you build extra lanes on the roads into Storrs. Then you build a new DOMED football stadium on campus that also houses a separate court and rink. You take the Rent and you land a Major League Soccer franchise.

And then you wake up.

 

[CL82]

First, you create a giant rest home with amenities in Chaplin to lure all the obstruction artists out of Mansfield. Then you build extra lanes on the roads into Storrs. Then you build a new DOMED football stadium on campus that also houses a separate court and rink. You take the Rent and you land a Major League Soccer franchise.

Domed stadium? No self respecting Northeastern football team would have a doomed stadium. Football is a game for men. We don't wilt in the cold like a tropical fruit.

 

[SAMCRO]

Domed stadium? No self respecting Northeastern football team would have a doomed stadium. Football is a game for men. We don't wilt in the cold like a tropical fruit.

I see what you did there.

 

[auggie22]

Several of the people I know who live in Providence commute to Mass. on the train. Providence has a little bit of the Fairfield Cty. thing happening.

A close friend of mine does that. Bought a 2200 square foot apartment in a beautiful new building right next to the train station, and he takes Accela to and from Boston for work- only 1 hr door to door most days. He paid about $700 less per square foot than I paid for my condo in Boston. But he also pays about 5 x more in local taxes and condo fees than I did. In the end our monthly living expenses were roughly the same.

 

[31GuardTrap]

I will be older than Tom Coughlin if and when this actually happens.

 

[TheDoggPound]

Guys the XL Center's retrofit and the future expansion of Rentschler Field do NOT need a public referendum. The only approval they need comes from the Bond Commission and they do as Malloy says.

 

[Pudge]

And the number of residents of the actual city of Hartford at that show will be close to zero.

Providence has two colleges in town and actual urban residential that isn't gang land (not that a lot of it isn't gang land). U Hartford is as far away from downtown Hartford as it can be, and Trinity is the same on the south side. Hartford needs destinations...that means a civic center type building near a convention center that is then surrounded by bars, restaurants, breweries and expensive urban residential. It needs gentrification. It has since I was a kid.

I lived in South Boston for a couple of years from 2001-2003. The waterfront was nothing but Harpoon Brewery, the Seaport Hotel, a small concert venue and the world trade center. The rest was empty lots and empty buildings. Now it is the hottest location in the city. KC has had a similar renaissance in the power and light district...which used to be the red light/adult bookstore and strip club zone. It can be done.

Let me expand on my thought then ...

The REASON that New Haven & Providence have a huge lead over all these other Northeastern urban settings is the Demand Drivers. Yale in New Haven which includes a Medical Complex which has grown from about 12th in the world to 5th largest; and Brown in Providence with hospitals and other institutions. These are far more impactful than Breweries or BaseballStadiums/SportsArena. Further, both Yale (much to the dismay of the New Haven population) has played a major role in real estate and development ... and that has wrongly been criticized; Brown as well. Hartford does not have a beneficent Big Endowment Institution driving it to be a better ecosystem. I do not think the DoNo goes in that direction either.

Institutions have jobs and workforce. If you build an amenitized ambience around these, then you have something.

 

[Kolumbo]

Plus both New Haven and Providence are on the shoreline. Hartford is at the intersection of 84 and 91 which is to be avoided at all costs.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Plus both New Haven and Providence are on the shoreline. Hartford is at the intersection of 84 and 91 which is to be avoided at all costs.

Yes. If 84 and 91 avoided Hartford or skirted the edges away from the riverfront in particular, Hartford could have developed more upscale urban residential. Hartford also has a challenge in that it is the smallest major city in America in land area.

@Pudge is correct on the impact of Yale and Brown...not that New Haven is a gem or anything. I tried to say that U Hart and Trinity do not provide that impact in Hartford. But many cities thrive without that, KC for one.

 

[Padutch5]

On a more contentious note, I didn't read the article but agree with the headline that Hartford should be done with the business of further public funding for stadium projects (at least for the next 10+ years). A shiny, new XL center is going to do very, very little to improve Hartford's economic climate. What do you guys think, that people are going to suddenly decide to eat dinner in Hartford and move the family there because there's a little more cushion on their a** while they watch a basketball game? If there really is such an incredible profit to be made from building a new Hartford stadium, then a private developer will jump at the chance to fund the stadium...that's how the market works.

The convention center was supposed to jumpstart downtown. Yes we have some new businesses in that area. But jumpstart--No. ESPN realized that and paid their way out of their commitment to build a bar there. We [yes, all of us and our children] paid $700 million plus for a busway to jumpstart downtown. In going to UCONN BB games, I've yet to count more than 5 people on any bus at rush hour. Good luck in getting a true financial picture of the busway finances.
In addition, our beloved state already ranked as the second worst state in terms of its finances , and facing a significant Billion dollar plus deficit in 2017, is in no position to incur more debt for a new downtown arena without a commitment of significant revenue from a new league for UCONN sports.

 

[Padutch5]

First, you create a giant rest home with amenities in Chaplin to lure all the obstruction artists out of Mansfield. Then you build extra lanes on the roads into Storrs. Then you build a new DOMED football stadium on campus that also houses a separate court and rink. You take the Rent and you land a Major League Soccer franchise.

In an ideal world yes. In the real world--not in your lifetime. Between financing issues of a state that is already really bankrupt and all of the environmental issues of building estra lanes through the countryside this isn't going to happen. '
Once ad for all, could we forget the pipe dream of a football stadium on campus.

 

[Padutch5]

When I used to have a longer commute I would put WTIC on to get the traffic updates in the afternoon. Markley was John Rowland's favorite guest, as I guess he was the only elected Republican in the state that would still talk to him in public. Hey Joe, guess whopushed for the whole Adrien's Landing/Front Street development? Your boy Rowland.

Yes, and do your remember which politician was the major supporter of a new stadium now called the Rent. It was the much maligned Rowland.

 

[BoatShow]

I'm going to win powerball and before you know it the XL center will be a start of the art 18k seat arena called BoatShow Has a Big Weiner Collesium.

 

[BlueDogs]

If they invested in a proper facility to begin with we wouldn't be in this mess. The last renovation was an abomination. Everything that is done in CT is half-ass and on the cheap, except when it comes to giving away the shop to public sector unions who suck the state dry. Then we get stupid 500 Million dollar busways which lose $10MM a year.

 

[TRest]

Yes, and do your remember which politician was the major supporter of a new stadium now called the Rent. It was the much maligned Rowland.

Blind pig and an acorn.