The Hartford City Council voted to approve three resolutions Tuesday night on development in Downtown North that will bring a new minor league baseball park and the Rock Cats to the capital city.
"This is new growth, new development," Thomas Deller, Hartford's development director said. "This is things that help change character and nature of the city and helps bring some life and vitality back to the town."
While many agree Downtown North needs development, there have been varying viewpoints on how to accomplish that.
Protesters have spent months letting city leaders know they don't want another sports stadium in the city and many residents said they have mixed feelings about the proposal.
"They're spending a lot of money on the park, but there's a lot of other things that need to be fixed around this city as well. So I'm a little torn about that," Gina Townes, of Hartford, said.
"It's going to take a long time to be built up. Why don't they keep it in New Britain like always?" Ramon Dejesus, of Hartford, said.
The plan for the area includes commercial and residential buildings in addition to the ballpark and now officials said the project will begin picking up speed.
"Then we have to finalize the contracts with the developers and the ball team and the project starts construction," Deller said. "It's a very aggressive schedule. We expect construction start in the new year."
