Riverfront Recapture Expands Geography with New Land Purchase on Hartford-Windsor Line

Hartford nonprofit organization Riverfront Recapture has purchased 60 acres of riverfront land on the Hartford-Windsor town line to build a new community park. The acquisition will allow Riverfront Recapture to complete a regional trail connection between the Hartford and Windsor, and will complete a seven-mile multi-use public transportation system extending from South Windsor to Hartford with connections to East Hartford and Glastonbury.

Riverfront Recapture manages, maintains, and operates four riverfront parks and their connected riverwalks and trails.  The organization is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2021.

“This land purchase gives us a rare opportunity to conserve one of the last riverfront parcels in the region and significantly expand public access to the Connecticut River,” said Michael Zaleski, President and CEO of Riverfront Recapture. “The redevelopment plan represents a transformational investment in the multimodal transportation system along the Connecticut River, will drive economic development, and improve the environment and community health in the underserved neighborhoods surrounding the park.”

Plans for the property include the creation of Garmany Cove, a nine-acre cove which will be the site of Riverfront Recapture’s envisioned paddle sport and outdoors center, featuring rowing, kayaking, canoeing, dragon boating, and stand-up paddle boarding. Plans call for the park to support recreation, youth programs, community events, and festivals.

Additional concepts include new trails, space for a 10-acre commercial development, and infrastructure such as a fishing pier, docks, and maintenance facilities. Officials indicated that a poor-quality wetland will be replaced by an ecologically developed floodplain wetland and hundreds of new trees will be planted to provide habitat corridors across the meadows.

The purchase property was funded by private investors, including a leadership gift from the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, The William and Alice Mortensen Foundation, and The Mowell Family Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, with legal support provided by Hartford-based Robinson + Cole.

“We are very grateful to our project investors for making it possible,” Zaleski said.

The State of Connecticut Bond Commission provided funding for redeveloping public areas of the park and constructing the trail connection via the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). Additional funding for trail development was provided by a Community Connectivity Grant, awarded to the town of Windsor in partnership with Riverfront Recapture by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT).

The future park, trail, and commercial development are directly adjacent to federal opportunity zones in Hartford and Windsor. Officials point out that the project will improve access to greenspace and the Connecticut River and positively impact the environment and community health.

Also of note, as summertime approaches and more events and activities are being planned as we emerge from COVID restrictions, the Riverfront Asian Festival at Mortensen Riverfront Plaza is slated for Saturday, August 21.  Applications for vendors are now being accepted.