Hundreds of high schoolers and adults take part in organized rowing activities along Hartford’s waterfront each year, with several thousand spectators also drawn to regattas and other rowing events.
Now, the docks that support recreational boating and athletic rowing on the Connecticut River are in-line for a nearly $800,000 upgrade that will replace some older docks and expand their overall length.
Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam’s administration has petitioned for a city wetlands permit on behalf of nonprofit Riverfront Recapture for the proposed dock upgrades at Riverside Park and Mortensen Riverfront Plaza.
The request will be discussed during a March 11 Planning & Zoning and Inland Wetlands Commission meeting.
Marc Nicol, director of park planning and development for Riverfront Recapture, said participation in his group’s rowing programs have rebounded from a lull following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. And now they’ve outgrown their current docking facilities.
By 2023, hundreds of people had participated in Riverfront Recapture rowing activities and events 28,625 times. Last year, participation had grown to 32,654 times, Nicol said.
The space crunch has already prompted Riverfront Recapture to add more than 100 feet of floating dock to the facilities at Riverside Park, near its boat house. The planned upgrade would replace these plastic docks and some of the heavier wooden docks, extending what is now a roughly 300-foot span to about 500 feet, Nicol said.
The 24-year-old docking system by the Mortensen Plaza will be entirely replaced, he said.
The project has received tentative approval for a $636,000 Connecticut Port Authority Small Harbor Improvement Grant, with about $160,000 additionally expected in private donations, Nicol said. Planning and design work has been covered entirely by private donations so far, he said.
The docks boost opportunities to draw the public to downtown Hartford and increase recreational possibilities for residents. They also enable programs – sponsored by Riverfront Recapture – that give access to area youth who might otherwise not have opportunities to get on the river. The nonprofit pays for Hartford and East Hartford high school students to participate in rowing programs, Nicol said.
“It provides people with an opportunity to get on the river where that opportunity might otherwise not exist,” Nicol said. “A kid from the North End of Hartford might not have an opportunity to rent a canoe or a kayak.”
The project has already passed review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Nicol said. A Greater Hartford Flood Commission review is pending. The city’s wetland’s process is just getting underway. The state grant also needs to be confirmed through the state Bond Commission, Nicol said.
Riverfront Recapture would like to begin installing the new docks this year, but given the lead time it takes to have them constructed, that is more likely to happen in spring 2026, Nicol said.Â
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