Four proposals have been submitted to the city of Hartford as it tries to figure out whether to build a new minor league baseball stadium downtown.
The deadline to submit the proposals was Friday, August 1. The city initially said it would identify and notify finalists by Friday, August 8. It's an aggressive timeline to build a stadium and other developments in a vacant neighborhood just north of I-84. The bid would be awarded by August 18.
The city wouldn't give any detail, though, about who submitted proposals and what sort of plans they had in mind. State law doesn't require the city to disclose anything until the negotiations are done and a contract is executed. That said, it can release whatever it wants, should it choose to do so.
Last week, city council Minority Leader Larry Deutsch called on the city to release as much information as possible to the public.
In a statement, city Development Director Thomas Deller said only that he'd release more information "once we've determined that all the proposals meet the minimum criteria of the RFP."
At least one of the proposals apparently comes from Curt Cameron, the president of the Thomas Hooker Brewing Company. He said he's interested in building a new $10 million to $15 million headquarters across from the proposed stadium.
"Our goal is really to help be the spark that really spurs on development in that area, and it's also our desire to be open day one, as the ballpark opens," Cameron said. He added that his facility would include a full production brewery, a visitor's center, a beer garden, and a gift shop. He's not proposing to build a stadium, though.
Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra initially called for borrowing up to $60 million to build that stadium. Since then, he has called for private funds to be included in the funding mix.
