It’s a historic CT landmark we all know. Building donations to bring it new life as national park

Nearly a decade after approval by federal lawmakers, the Coltsville National Historical Park is expected to be officially established in Hartford late next year, now that two of the oldest structures in the neighborhood have been donated for a visitor center.

While the establishment of the national park — sought for two decades — may now be within sight, the opening of the visitor center in two brownstone sheds in the Colt manufacturing complex is still at least several years away.

The brownstone sheds — donated to the National Park Service — will require major renovations to first reverse significant deterioration and then a conversion to a visitor center, exhibit space and park ranger offices. The sheds, built in the 1850s, once were used as a forge and foundry at Samuel and Elizabeth Colt’s firearms factory. The structures will take millions of dollars to renovate, with an eye towards preserving the original architecture.

“There are some complexities here and that is what has taken the time, obviously, and will take a little bit more,” Michael Reynolds, deputy director of external affairs at the National Park Service, said. “After that it will be a series of multiple years. You’ll see the buildings get stabilized first. You’ll see its envelope buttoned up. So we will work from the outside in.”

A combination of federal and, possibly, state funding is expected to finance the renovations.

The donation of the the brownstones was announced Monday at a press conference at the former firearms manufacturing plant. Over the last decade, the complex — known for the blue, onion-shaped dome atop the East Armory that’s visible from Interstate 91 — has been converted to hundreds of apartments, office space and storefront space. The press conference was held in the Colt Taproom, an expansion of the Thomas Hooker Brewing Co. in Bloomfield.

U.S. Rep. John B. Larson, D-1, a longtime proponent of the historical park and one of its most vocal supporters, said the visitor center — and indeed, the entire national historical park — will tell the story of the Colts. The story includes the influence on manufacturing and Hartford became a cradle of industrial innovation. Automobile entrepreneur Henry Ford traveled to Hartford to study the Colt factory’s use of an assembly line, interchangeable parts and the supply chain.

The Colt history also prominently includes how Elizabeth Colt took over operations of the factory, rebuilt it after a spectacular fire in 1864 and laid the foundation for an enterprise that would grow and thrive through two World Wars. Her philanthropy became legendary, constructing the brownstone Church of the Good Shepherd and donating the grounds of her Armsmear estate after her death for what would become Colt Park.

“This is an incredible legacy,” Larson said, told those attending the announcement. “And it’s one whose story needs to be told.”

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a longtime national park advocate, said, in his remarks, the park will become a tourism destination and an inspiration for school children and visitors of all ages who learn what is possible with innovation.

“So it is more than just the past,” Blumenthal said. “It is literally looking toward the future.”

The boundaries of the historical park will go well beyond the former nerve center of manufacturing. They will include Colt Park, the Colt family monument on Wethersfield Avenue and housing built by the Colts for their workforce. The Church of the Good Shepherd and the memorial parish hall were built by Elizabeth Colt in memory of her husband and her children who died before her.

Tours of the iconic, blue dome also are planned.

“The idea is not to have this as really big museum but a jumping off point,” Kelly Fellner, superintendent of the Coltsville National Historical Park, said Monday, of the future visitor center. “We want people to explore Coltsville and explore the Wadsworth Atheneum where old family artifacts are and the State Library and the artifacts that are there.”

Stretched out for years

The brownstone sheds — the only structures to survive the fire in 1864 — were donated by Hartford-based CG Management Co. and its owner, Larry Dooley, the developer of the former factory buildings, and his investor in the project, the tax-credit investing arm of energy giant Chevron Corp.

When the U.S. Congress backed Larson’s Coltsville National Historical Park Act in 2014, one of the prime reasons was because the Colt complex was already showing signs of economic growth and the ability to survive on its own.

Turning the national park into a reality also hinged heavily on the building of a public-private partnerships with not only CG Management but a broad spectrum of community-based organizations. Those include the Sheldon/Charter Oak neighborhood revitalization zone, which plans and advocates for projects; Friends of Colt Park; and the Coltsville Heritage Partnership.

The approval of the Coltsville National Historical Park by Congress in 2014 and the subsequent signing into law by President Barack Obama authorized the park but did not guarantee its creation. A series of agreements had to fall into place before the new park could be officially established and opened.

One key issue was where the visitor center would be located. Initially, it was thought the East Armory would be the best location, But the armory, under the iconic dome, but was later found to be too complicated because of the office leases in the structure.

Negotiations moved on to the historic brownstone sheds, but talks with the National Park Service stretched out for years because of their age and condition made worse by interiors exposed to the weather through gaps in the slate roofs and broken window panes.

Even though the national park has long been a work in progress, there have been signs of its formation: the appearance of park rangers in Hartford and a mobile community outreach van.

Although the finish line for establishing the national park is now in sight, former longtime U.S. senator Joseph I. Lieberman told those gathered at Monday’s announcement to keep a sharp eye on the project.

“Stick with it,” Lieberman, an early advocate for the park, said. “We ain’t done yet.”

Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.