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The Park River: Exploring Hartford's Underbelly

Catie Talarski

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A hundred years ago, a river ran through the city of Hartford. And I don’t mean the powerful, 400 mile long Connecticut river. It was the Park River…and it was not loved. Due to massive pollution, the spread of disease, and a few devastating floods –the Park River, was buried beneath the city, entombed in concrete tunnels and drainage ditches. Started in 1940, It was one of the largest and most expensive projects in the history of the Army Corps of Engineers. After four decades and more than 100 milliondollars, the river now runs underground, relatively forgotten. Where We Live senior producer Catie Talarski takes us on a tour of this hidden landmark with artist Samuel Rowlett and his homemade canoe.

See more photos of the adventure.

Samuel Rowlett’s exhibit (which includes his homemade canvas canoe) is at Real Art Ways now through September 29. He will be giving an artist talk Wednesday July 25 at 7PM, discussing his journey down the Connecticut River with Kim Lutz from the Nature Conservancy.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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