With so much talk of how the City has been spending money and plans to use bonding in relation to the proposed stadium, it’s time to take a look at how Hartford is using Capital Improvement Project funds elsewhere.

Recreation

The recently re-opened George Day Park is one of those items. With new playground equipment, basketball court, garden area, and water features, this Parkville spot cost $870,000 to renovate.

In neighboring Frog Hollow, the Pope Park North/Baby Pope playground has been under construction for months. The underutilized tennis courts, broken chain link fencing, and dated playground equipment were ripped out, along with a concrete spray pool. Neighborhood kids have been, in the meantime, playing basketball and football on the first block of Putnam Street, in the roadway. Here, the City has said that the spray pool and playground construction would be completed by May, but a sign at the site says July. There is some playground equipment and picnic tables in place, but work remains to be done for the $570,000 price tag.

The Goodwin Park spray pool construction is scheduled to be completed in August: $190,000.

The carousel in Bushnell Park opened for the season at the end of June, approximately two months later than it normally does. That it has been open for more than only two days this season is an improvement over what was expected — one day in June, one day in September. The necessity of some of these renovations has been debated, but ultimately, the funds were approved. A document produced by the City lists the CIP funds for this at $900,000, yet the City Council approved $1M for it. Construction should complete in late November.

On Saturday there will be a grand opening for the New Ross, County Wexford Skate Park (Heaven). It took $150,000 and years of working with City officials to get to this stage. This park developed organically, with its users going to the City with the idea to officially transform the space from a basketball court that nobody used as such, to ramps for skateboarding.

In Elizabeth Park, construction on “The Farmstead” should begin in August and finish in Spring 2015. This costs $642,150.

The pond in Pope Park is due for restoration. Work on this should begin in September. Given the amount of goose droppings, the $1.7M price tag actually seems appropriate, if not low for the nature of the job. A few Hartford police divers suffered from ear infections after plunging into the pond last year to search for a murder weapon.

Each time Hartford has to close a budget deficit, someone suggests selling Batterson Park. Located in Farmington and New Britain. The Hartford-owned park will be seeing the development of hiking trails. Money will also go toward landscaping, an accessible drop-off area, and a toilet facility. This $400,000 project has gone out to bid. Previously, the City received grant money to help establish the trails and a camping area.

Though controversial, several sites have been adopting the Cal Ripken fields featuring synthetic turf. The one at Quirk West was scheduled for completion in May, costing $1.3M. Another ($1.7M) at Annie Fisher is due for completion in August. In mid-September, Hyland Park’s field ($1.85M) should be finished.

Residents have been demanding for years that the fence around South Green be repaired. No dates have been provided, but $200,000 CIP funds have been allotted for this.

With the buzz over the possible baseball stadium, residents have been asking about Dillon Stadium, an existing sport venue near the Sport and Medical Sciences Academy. So far, $1M is marked for the stadium in the design phase, with another $500,000 for ADA improvements to the locker room and bathrooms. Improvements include the installation of artificial turf. There are rumors of a professional soccer league coming to Dillon Stadium, which suggests these numbers could surge if there is not insistence on improvements being made with private funds.

Maintenance has been an issue elsewhere, like on the two public golf courses. Goodwin’s golf course re-opened recently, but Keney’s is not set to be usable until 2015. The Keney Golf Course fairway improvements ($3.5M) and clubhouse improvements ($2M) are set to complete in mid-March 2015.

Meanwhile, there is a citywide monument study underway with no end date set: $50,000.

Education

The Milner School, which has been involved in the recent FUSE/Jumoke controversy, is described as experiencing active improvements ($2M), but no start or end date has been provided for them.

Kinsella Magnet High, is entering the consultant phase. This $33M project has been rocky, with Kinsella parents speaking against the former superintendent’s choice of site: adjacent to SAND on Main Street.

No start or end date has been provided, but $2.2M has been marked for air-conditioning at Bellizzi.

Also entering the design phase, according to a document released by the City, is the Burns School Language Lab ($700,000). The Burns School has been holding various fundraisers in recent years, bringing in actors and hosting tag sales, to come up with money for other improvements at the Frog Hollow elementary/middle school.

West Middle students had been dispersed to other schools with the building closed for the 2013-2014 year. Its renovations ($54.6M) are expected to be completed this month.

The creation of a ramp at the McDonough School got underway in September 2012 ($140,000). It is apparently in the close out phase.

Other

Although safety improvements for Albany Avenue were said to be in the design phase, no dollar amount was provided for this project, nor was a completion date given. Across town, the Farmington Avenue Streetscape ($6,466,837.66) is set to wrap up in May 2015.

There are pump station improvements ($240,000) for flood control due to be completed this month.

Cemetery master plans, for which no start or end dates have been provided, are costing $130,000.

Another item with no start or end date: an $800,000 fire training facility on Fischer Road. This involves the renovation of three existing buildings and expansion of another.

Big Picture

The CIP Project Status document contains over 100 items ranging in type, status, and price tag. The most expensive project completed in recent years? The $77M public safety complex, followed by work on schools: West Middle ($54.6M), MD Fox ($54.4M), and IB at Quirk ($55M).