A series of entries designed to capture the ongoing adventures of NINA! See how we came to be where we are today, and follow along as we enter the new century of social media!
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The old ServCorps gang got back together for a day of framing at 86 Hawthorn.
Edward Peltier and Jean Linderman from the American School for the Deaf came down today to take people on a tour of the former campus of their school – which, of course, is currently The Hartford. They led an informative tour that showed people where the school’s various buildings had been, and they explained the connections the neighborhood still has to the school: Asylum Avenue, Cogswell Street, and the statue of Alice Cogswell in Gallaudet Triangle.
Among the things we learned today: students from the school once lobbied Hartford to change the name of Asylum Avenue to something else.
Ed and Jean will be back next year, so if you missed the tour today make sure you don’t miss out in 2020!
A peek into the future living area on the third floor.
Carl of Farmington Valley Wall Concepts painting the gable.
Back in 1947, some developers started work on Marshall Gardens, a complex comprising 10 buildings that were planned to be affordable housing for veterans returning from World War II. At the same time, the Connecticut Highway Commission, precursor to the Connecticut Department of Transportation, was planning for the East-West Expressway through Hartford. The expressway, better known now as Interstate 84, had three different paths through the center of the city, but the Highway Commission wasn’t in any hurry.
Until, that is, they found out about Marshall Gardens. he developers had gotten as far as framing their new buildings when the Highway Commission condemned the three southernmost buildings and seized the land on which they sat through eminent domain. They demolished the frames, and they backfilled the foundations. As it turned out, the expressway would go a bit to the south of this property, and the property eventually became parking for the factory across the street (which burned down in 1994) before it passed to Aetna.
Today, that property is 80-88 Hawthorn Street. Pictured above are the concrete slabs we found when we excavated for the foundation at 86-88 Hawthorn – they comprised the old foundation of one of the condemned Marshall Gardens buildings. In the background, the brick building is the southernmost building of Marshall Gardens that remains.
In case you’re wondering, yes, the Department of Transportation will affect Hawthorn Street again, once it figures out what it will do to the I-84 Viaduct. Everything old is new again.
After this is finished, we’ll be able to open up some new opportunities for volunteers.
Jonathan Clark took us around the Sigourney Square District and showed us some of the neighborhood that used to be and how it became the neighborhood you now see. Jonathan is the one in the cap pointing.
Anneke Velthuizen volunteered at 115 & 117 Sigourney Street today. Anneke, who works at Aetna, pitched in with Keith Powell and David Cunningham to get a lot of work done today, which helps us to keep our homes affordable for their future owners.
Interested in volunteering? We advertise volunteer opportunities through our member institutions, but if you don’t work for one of them you can contact us directly to inquire about what we might need.
Or maybe Trinity Episcopal Church is taking a cue from us? In any case, we’re not so alone anymore.
