New boardwalk and 'Loafers' makeover spruce up downtown Bristol

A new boardwalk a new corner for loafers came to fruition this month

By Christy Nadalin
Posted 8/16/18

If you’ve been to downtown Bristol in the past week or so you may have noticed a couple of projects that have come to near-completion. Legion Square, so named for the monument that used to sit …

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New boardwalk and 'Loafers' makeover spruce up downtown Bristol

A new boardwalk a new corner for loafers came to fruition this month

Posted

If you’ve been to downtown Bristol in the past week or so you may have noticed a couple of projects that have come to near-completion. Legion Square, so named for the monument that used to sit in front of the former American Legion Hall, and unofficially known as Loafer’s Corner, is the pocket-sized park at the northwest corner of the intersection of Hope and State streets. Long a favorite hangout for “loafers,” the benches had become tired, the bricks displaced, and the planters had seen better days. 

That’s all in the past — Legion Square is now boasting new benches, new pavers, and a new landscape design that’s in the works. Still to come: a table and several planters that will be fabricated by artisans at The Steel Yard. The total budgeted cost (though according to Ed Tanner, Town Planner, it’s likely going to come in under budget) is $29,300, and 80 percent of that will be covered by the state through a 2016 Department of Environmental Management recreation grant.

With a steeper price tag, but also 80 percent covered under the same grant, is the new boardwalk behind the fire station next to Rockwell Park, on Thames Street. The town was able to acquire the land behind the Gladding property (immediately north of the fire station), and add the boardwalk, so you can now walk all the way from Independence Park to the Maritime Center (the Armory building) by the Church Street dock, without once setting foot on Thames Street. 

The total cost of the project was $407,000, of which $325,000 will be covered by the DEM grant.

The scope of the work was more than what might be immediately apparent. Before work could even begin on the boardwalk, extensive repairs needed to be made to the stone structure of the State Street pier. Once that was done, the perimeter of the pier was resurfaced until it reached the land behind the Gladding property, at which point it turns into a clamshell path before becoming a wood boardwalk behind the fire station. The entire walk is compliant with standards set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The land behind the Gladding property will be seeded with grass in September (it’s too hot now) and Mr. Tanner’s office will be planning an official ribbon-cutting ceremony for this latest waterfront improvement, with a date to be announced.

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