A special place; a unique opportunity
Remington Woods in Bridgeport and Stratford is a unique and precious survival —
422 acres of old-growth oak forest and wildlife habitat in the midst of one of America's most densely developed metropolitan
areas. Set aside in 1906, this private preserve includes a sizeable lake, rock outcrops, streams, and wetlands that
remain as nature created them. No city in the Northeast retains a wild open space of this magnitude and quality anywhere near
the population center. And, quite possibly, no city in North America is more in need of the preservation in perpetuity
of so magnificent a resource.
Bridgeport's air quality is regularly rated near the bottom in the rankings of
America's cities. Its proportion of population with respiratory illness, correspondingly, is alarmingly high.
Without the "green lungs" of this last vestige of natural forest cover, pollution could reach levels associated with old industrial
centers in the Czech Republic, Polish Silesia, and the containment zones of Romania. Remington Woods' quarter-million
trees filter 50 tons of toxic participates from the air per day and remove 3500 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
every year. They also cool the air of surrounding neighborhoods by several degrees during hot summer months. To
replace this mature forest with new saplings would cost $50 million and require more than a century of growth. Clearly,
this resource is one in need of nurturing and protection for our own sake and that of ensuing generations as the need for
open space grows more acute.
Almost incomprehensibly, a plan is in the works to remove this forest and develop
it as an industrial park. This undertaking would require the expenditure of at least $200 million of public funds to
construct an express highway through residential neighborhoods down to Interstate 95 — a road that proponents envision
as similar to Lordship Boulevard. The increase in truck traffic and pollution through our communities, and the loss
of our region's last forest and major wildlife habitat, are seen as necessary sacrifices for the sake of jobs and tax revenue.
A group called the Friends of Remington Woods has formed to examine the current
proposal and explore possible development alternatives that might have less of an adverse impact on our city's quality of
life. Far from being anti-business or obstructionist in mindset, the organization feels strongly that a project can
be crafted that would be the catalyst for a resounding turnaround in Bridgeport's economic development prospects and would
create a national model for the rejuvenation of moribund historic industrial centers. This is the story of our vision.
Imagine...
Imagine an extensive campus of monumental red-brick structures rising around a
chain of sparkling lakes, pleasingly landscaped and an integral part of a greenway extending from the shores of Long Island
Sound to a wilderness preserve back in the forested hinterlands. This city-within-a-city would integrate office and
manufacturing space with a permanent festival marketplace with a unique and remarkable combination of retailers, all interconnected
by period light-rail transport. A symbolic structure for the city, along the lines of an Eiffel Tower or Gateway Arch,
would serve as a focal point and trademark and would be visible for miles. This imaginative business complex would be
overlooked by cutting-edge residential enclaves — one on the shorefront resembling Mystic Seaport; another on a steep
hillside redolent of Beacon Hill or Philadelphia; yet a third replicating an early American village-scape along winding drives.
The vision is bold; the project immense in scope. Totaling over 1.5 million
square feet in the business park alone, it would be certain to gain America's attention and make the name Bridgeport synonymous
with creative innovation and dramatic renewal. And the beauty of this is that all the component structures have already
been built — they merely need to be recognized for their potential, dusted off, and readied for the aspirations of a
new generation. And not a tree or animal would have to be destroyed, no granite ledge blasted to oblivion, and no million
tons of debris added to the alp of refuse at Seaside Park.
The General Electric Contribution
Our proposal involves the reclamation of the derelict Remington Arms and General
Electric plants and the restoration of the lakes, shorefront, and historic neighborhoods that adjoin. But before we
explore the specific components that would make up this grand undertaking, let us examine what has been done in another New
England factory city with a lot of similarity to Bridgeport.
