Gala Will Showcase Downtown
By Robin Vinci | Editor at May 21, 2024 | 6:15 pm | Print
Downtown New Britain will be the focus of Connecticut Main Street Center’s (CMSC) 2015 CT Main Street Awards Gala at Trinity on Main, June 8. A gathering reception and presentation of awards will take place at Trinity-on-Main. Following the awards presentation, gala attendees will then be able to take advantage of a “menu” of New Britain Experiences that are planned to help the 200 attendees from throughout the state get to know Downtown New Britain. Walking tours, performance art, and a selection of food and beverage unique to New Britain will be included in this showcase event.
“When selecting the host city for our gala event, we look for town centers and neighborhood districts that have both a compelling story of community-led revitalization efforts and recent strategic achievements in place-making and economic development,” said Kimberley Parsons-Whitaker, Associate Director of CMSC. “New Britain is a city that is coming back from the loss of manufacturing in the latter part of the 20th century by capitalizing on its unique assets of a vibrant arts community, a culturally diverse population of entrepreneurs, and an ethic of working together to find solutions.”
According to CMSC, New Britain is internationally recognized as the home of invention and manufacturing for over 200 years. New Britain’s downtown is itself being reinvented with the coming CTFastrak, the State’s innovative mass-transit initiative that will serve as the spine of Central Connecticut’s regional transit system.
Capitalizing on the coming transportation hub, the city of New Britain is implementing a comprehensive and robust Complete Streets Master Plan and wayfinding projects to revitalize and energize downtown from the State Courthouse to Columbus Park. The first phase of this plan was completed with work around New Britain’s new state-of-the-art 87,000 sq. ft. public safety and retail complex.
“New Britain is thrilled to have been selected as the location for the 2015 CT Main Street Awards Gala,” said Mayor Erin Stewart. “We’ve been working hard to improve our downtown through many forward-thinking initiatives, like our Complete Streets work, and by holding great events in downtown, like Oktoberfest and Main Street USA, which will be making a comeback in 2015. It’s wonderful that our efforts are being recognized, and we are excited to show them off at the CT Main Street Awards Gala.”
This year’s event will feature guided tours of downtown New Britain, including a Downtown Arts, Heritage & Culture, Walnut Hill Rose Garden & New Britain Museum of American Art, CTfastrak in New Britain;Transportation, Housing & Main Street.
The Connecticut Main Street Awards of Excellence program was created in 2003 to recognize outstanding projects, individuals and partnerships in community efforts to bring traditional downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts back to life, socially and economically. The Connecticut Main Street Awards annually celebrate and communicate the most successful and innovative efforts in Main Street revitalization in Connecticut. Submissions are judged on criteria which included innovation, replication, representation, partnerships utilized, and outcomes.
In total seven recipients were selected for the prestigious award including organizations and initiatives from Mansfield, New London, Putnam, Simsbury, Waterbury, and Upper Albany, Hartford.
For the first time in the history of the awards program, a state agency was also selected to receive an award. The CT Department of Transportation received a special award for Starting a Revolution: Integration of Land Use and Transit in recognition of the progressive nature of CTfastrak, the bus rapid transit system opened earlier this year. The awards jury that selected the winners gave the award because they felt the new busway represents a cultural shift in how Connecticut views transit, and wanted to acknowledge the future promise of transit oriented development that will hopefully result around the station locations.
Schedule of Events:
4:30 p.m. Taste of New Britain Reception
5:30 p.m. Awards Presentation
6:15 p.m. Downtown New Britain Tours Begin
7:45 p.m. Champagne & Dessert Reception Stockman Gallery
Hosted by Greater New Britain Arts Alliance
