FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                           CONTACT:  Judd Everhart, 860-524-7313

September 26, 2006                                                                               judd.everhart@ct.gov

Governor Rell Announces $4.6 Million in State Funding   

To Advance Bridgeport’s Steel Point Development Project
“Creating new jobs and revitalizing our cities are top priorities”

Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced a state commitment of $4.6 million to help Bridgeport purchase additional land that will be needed to advance the city’s billion-dollar Steel Point economic development project. The project will ultimately create more than 20,000 direct and indirect jobs in and around the Park City.

The additional funding, to be approved by the State Bond Commission next week, will enable the city to continue its purchase of additional land parcels required for the project along the 47-acre peninsula south of Interstate 95. 

“The momentum for Steel Point is clearly on the upswing,” said Governor Rell. “Earlier this year we committed an initial $8.5 million in state funding to help the city purchase the land that will be transformed into a waterfront neighborhood that will include a combination of housing, restaurants, office space and a marina.

“Creating new jobs and revitalizing our cities are top priorities for my administration, and this investment in Bridgeport will bring our state another step closer to these goals. The Steel Point development will help us to rebuild the Bridgeport community, elevating it to the status of a premier destination location.”

The vision for Steel Point is a multi-faceted economic development project which creates a vibrant mixed-use waterfront neighborhood to include various types of residential housing, a retail center, waterfront restaurant and entertainment facilities, office space, a hotel/conference center, a marina and yacht club, and a continuous public esplanade along the waterfront. The Steel Point development will encompass more than 6 million square feet when fully completed.

Since 1999, the City of Bridgeport has acquired more than 100 properties comprising two-thirds of the peninsula. The city must possess full ownership of the peninsula before it can proceed with establishment of a special tax district that will issue its own bonding and allow construction to begin.

            “Steel Point will generate an estimated 16,000 direct and indirect construction jobs and an additional 9,000 direct and indirect permanent jobs upon completion,” Governor Rell noted. “Not only are we creating thousands of jobs and making this city an even greater place to visit and live, we are capitalizing on Bridgeport’s many assets, including a beautiful harbor.”

Along with the $8.5 million approved for property acquisition last March, Governor Rell had also announced an additional $750,000 in state funding to support the multi-million-dollar dredging of Bridgeport Harbor which will enable it to become a major New England container-shipping center, taking truck traffic off of I-95.   

The harbor dredging project involves removing decades of accumulated silt in Bridgeport Harbor to allow larger vessels to access the port.  The federal government is funding the majority of the project which is being headed by the Army Corps of Engineers.  Because the silt is unsuitable for ocean disposal, it will be specially washed and treated with new thermal technology and then transported to New Jersey for use in state transportation projects.

“Steel Point has the right mixture of public and private financing and the state’s financial support should continue to encourage strong and expanded private investment,” Governor Rell said. “I am confident that the many entities working on this project have developed an achievable plan that will benefit Bridgeport and the entire state.”

The funding is expected to be approved by the State Bond Commission, which will meet Friday, October 6, at 10:30 a.m. in the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.

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