The UConn signs are already up in the old Hartford Times building as construction begins on the downtown Hartford campus on Monday.
The signs read "Making our downtown our hometown" and that motto will come to fruition in 2017 if all goes according to schedule after work on the $115 million project commences Monday.
UConn had a campus in Hartford from 1939 until 1970 before it moved to West Hartford.
The groundbreaking for the new campus comes after the project got the green light last month.
“This is a great day for UConn, but more importantly, it’s a great day for Connecticut and its capital city,” UConn President Susan Herbst said Monday. “This neighborhood campus will be a vibrant part of downtown and deeply engaged in the life of the community, bringing tremendous benefits to both the city and our students.”
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra, State Sen. Bob Duff, State Rep. Whitt Betts, State Sen. Beth Bye, State Rep. Angel Arce, Herbst, class of 2017 student Ashley Arthur and graduate student Mara Sanchez were among the people spoke at the event. The ceremony was held across from the old Hartford Times building, located at 38 Prospect Avenue, which the university has purchased will be the anchor of the 217,000-square-foot satellite campus.
“With the creation of this downtown campus, we are helping to create a brighter, better tomorrow for young students living in Hartford and nearby communities,” Malloy said. “Returning UConn back to downtown Hartford will bring students closer to key resources within the city, better enable the campus to fulfill its urban education mission, and add vitality to downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods."
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The project includes restoring yet retaining the historic Beaux-Arts façade of the 95-year-old Times building and adding an office and two classroom buildings. There will also be a retail space on the first level.
“The iconic Times building becomes the centerpiece of UConn Hartford and the program spreads out around it, integrating into the neighborhood and community,” Laura Cruickshank, UConn’s master planner and chief architect, said. “Launching this undertaking is a truly major and exciting event in the life of UConn.”
But school officias said it's not just about what they're building. It's also about what's already in the capital city, resources students can take advantage of like the Wadsworth, the library and City Hall.
"Really having Hartford as the homebase for our campus is really going to put so much within reach for our students internships jobs and resources and also for the city of Hartford to have more feet on the street," Stephanie Reitz, UConn's spokeperson, said." We’re really excited. It’s just really a great day for all of us."
There will be a courtyard outside open to public use and the public will also be welcomed at the retail stores, according to the university.
Malloy said the new campus will be another way to devleop Connecticut's economy.
“UConn and its fellow state universities are enacting a vision to make Connecticut home to the best educated, most skilled and most productive workforces in the nation,” Malloy said. “The investments we are making now are critical to our economic development strategy, and will ensure that our state is home to workers with globally competitive skills that will attract 21st century jobs.”
The construction of the new campus will primarily be funded through the Next Generation Connecticut initiative to grow technology, science, engineering and math education at the school to prepare students for the workforce and enhance Connecticut's economy.
UConn's Graduate Business Learning Center will be integrated into campus programming. The campus will also house the Department of Public Policy and School of SocialWork and the university plans to add an engineering master's degree and expand on its public policy, urban studies and education programs, according to the university.
The university also touted how the new location in Hartford will give students closer access to internships, service projects and jobs in everything from schools and government agencies to businesses and nonprofits.
“It’s exciting to see the new UConn campus begin to take shape. This is another example of revitalization happening downtown and I eagerly welcome UConn to the neighborhood,” Hartford Mayor Pedro E. Segarra said.
Parking is one of the biggest obstacles in the construction of the new UConn Hartford campus. The university said it's working on deals with nearby garages, primarily the one at the Connecticut Convention Center through an agreement with the Capital Region Development Authority, and a way for students to ride the bus for free. The parking permits for the garages would be similar in cost to the fees at the Storrs campus. UConn Hartford will also have a CT Transit bus stop on campus, accordign to the university.
But some say that won't fix downtown Hartford traffic and that traffic is worse than West Hartford, where the satellite campus is currently located.
School officials, the governor and the mayor did the traditional shoveling of the soil to signify the start of the project.
The goal is to have it ready by fall 2017 for about 2,300 students and 250 faculty members.
Prospect Street, located behind Hartford City Hall, will be closed until 1 p.m. for the ground breaking ceremony.
