Public-Private Partnership
Increases and Diversifies Use
An Urban Parks Institute Success Story
Hartford, Connecticut
A public-private partnership reversed a decade of neglect in Hartford's central park through successful capital projects, diverse programs and effective fundraising. With the financially strapped city assuming responsibility for basic maintenance, the partnership has raised six million dollars in public and private investment for improvements and programs that include jazz concerts, tours, and an innovative environmental education program
Project Background
Bushnell Park, in the heart of downtown Hartford, was the first park in the
United States
planned by a city. The 37-acre park was developed in the mid-19th century by
Horace
Bushnell, a contemporary of Frederick Law Olmstead. By 1980, Bushnell Park was
suffering
from physical dilapidation that was inhibiting healthy use.
The Bushnell Park Foundation was founded in 1981 to spearhead the park's
restoration. The foundation first developed a master plan that established
specific
improvement projects. The group's board of directors, made up mostly of
corporate leaders,
decided to contract with a private consulting firm to staff the organization. It then raised $40,000 to restore each of the park's four entry-ways. Other
physical improvement projects included: new lighting; renovation of a pumping station into a public
art gallery; the $1.5 million restoration of the Soldier's and
Sailor's Memorial
Arch; installation of new walkways and benches; construction of an outdoor stage
for
theater, concerts and dance performances; and planting over 450 trees.
Funding: The foundation has raised funds by effectively leveraging
public and
private sources. Of the $6 million it has raised, about half has come from
public sources,
including state and city agencies. Almost $3 million of the public amount came
from the
Hartford Trust Fund, a restricted municipal fund (total current value: $16
million) which
was established in the early 1980's with proceeds from a land sale and is
overseen by
the city treasurer. Private funding has come from corporate and philanthropic
sources, as
well as individuals who have "adopted" trees, bought merchandise, or
made other
contributions.
Despite its private fundraising success, the foundation continues to rely on
the city
for basic maintenance and partial capital support. For example, the city will
contribute a
third of the $1.2 million cost of a Children's Play and Learning Environment and
improvements to the park's carousel.
Impacts: Today the park receives almost one million visitors every
year, up
almost 20% from a decade ago. Its restored landscape and landmark structures, as
well as
diverse programs and events, attract everyone from lunchtime office workers to
neighborhood children and suburban visitors on the weekends.
"Park Roots" teaches Hartford's teachers how to use Bushnell
Park as a
classroom for math, history, science and arts. The five-year-old program is now
used in 16
of the city's 32 schools and involves more than 2,000 school children in
such
activities as learning the history behind the restored Soldier's and
Sailor's
Memorial Arch, and solving the mystery of the river buried under the park.
Schools pay a
fee for materials and transportation to and from the park. "Park
Roots" is
underwritten by United Technologies.
The foundation realized early on that capital projects alone were not enough
to
increase and sustain park use. The group, whose board now reflects greater
community
representation and diversity, began sponsoring jazz concerts and art shows in
the pump
house. They also created diverse programs, including free walking tours led by
volunteer
docents, events, and festivals.
Lessons Learned: In bringing lights to the park, the foundation
recognized the
need to go beyond planning and fundraising into project management. The city
initially
wanted high-intensity lights, but the foundation convinced them that softer
lights with
historic lamps was more in keeping with the park's character. To ensure
success, the
foundation became project manager, and oversaw its implementation. In the same
vein, the
foundation used proceeds from "Adopt a Tree" programs to hire a
private arborist
to supplement city park maintenance.
The foundation's success mirrors that of the Central Park Conservancy,
on which it
modeled itself in part. The park's deterioration had created a sense of
urgency that enabled the foundation to develop a vision of what the park had been and could become again. Foundation staff cite four key success variables:
- A comprehensive but feasible master plan enabled the foundation to restore
the park incrementally, carving out manageable projects and demonstrating credibility and positive change;
- A strong, effective, and increasingly diverse board helped to mobilize
support and bring resources to the park;
- Physical restoration became a vehicle for effective programming and events;
- The foundation broadened the role of the park from simply a downtown park
serving lunchtime crowds, into a metropolitan resource with diverse and high quality programs.
Contact: Sanford Parisky, Managing Director, Bushnell Park Foundation, 203-232-8321
(Spring 1997)
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