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| Collage of SoDo's 2023-24 Capitol Avenue Winter Lights installation. Photos by Robin Zaleski. |
Have you seen the winter garlands lighting up Capitol Avenue?
In February of 2023, the SoDo NRZ submitted a proposal for a Love Your Block grant to beautify a high-visibility area in our neighborhood for the winter season by installing reusable, pre-lit LED evergreen garlands on the Victorian-style street lamps on Capitol Avenue. The grant was awarded by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving that summer. Our neighbors at First Presbyterian kindly stored the garlands until they were hung up last month by SoDo volunteers and some staff members from Riverfront Recapture. The plan is to leave the garlands up until March, to help brighten the streetscape during the winter months.
Speaking of Capitol Avenue, Bushnell South (aka Capital Avenue redevelopment) and other SoDo developments were again in the news recently, as part of some year-end round-ups of Hartford development. There are a lot of new projects planned in and around SoDo, so it is perfect timing that this year one of our major goals is to update our Strategic Plan. We will simultaneously be drafting an official Neighborhood Plan with the city. Representatives from the Department of Economic Development and their planning partner FHI Studios will be the guest speakers at our next meeting, Wednesday, January 17 at 6:00 pm at First Presbyterian Church of Hartford, 136 Capitol Avenue. Enter through the small white building to the right of the main church. We look forward to catching up on neighborhood news with you!
