Main Street Program Coordinators from New England enjoy lunch with CMSC at Loft 628 in Hartford.

This was the first time CMSC hosted an event like this. The agenda included a brief overview from each of the Executive Directors about the successes and challenges their individual programs face. Ms. Frey gave an overview of current activity at the National Main Street Center, which was created as a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation earlier this year. The group then had an open discussion about the evolving role between state, regional and citywide coordinators and local programs, as well as updating the list of criteria designated Main Street Programs need to meet for national accreditation. (Currently the ten criteria are all internally focused and do not necessary best reflect the results of the work of these organizations.)

The group took a short field trip to the Colt Gateway building for lunch prepared by Chef Harry and a behind-the-scenes tour of the redevelopment underway on the building, including a spectacular view from the famous Blue Onion Dome.

The projects are a strategic mix of small and large, immediate and long term, public and private. They are being implemented in stages. Each initiative is a patch that contributes to downtown's overall pattern or quilt. The "i" in iQuilt stands for innovation, and each project incorporates innovative approaches to walkability and placemaking. The goal is for downtown Hartford to become the central gathering place for the neighborhoods of the city and the towns of the region: a place of streets and sidewalks alive with people; a magnet for residents, visitors, creative workers and cultural innovators; a driver of economic activity and growth; and a model of livable, sustainable urban design.

The iQuilt Plan interweaves the urban landscape with the natural one. It honors the city's history as a thriving riverfront port and as an innovator in the design of public parks by connecting Bushnell Park and the State Capitol to the Connecticut River, and by bringing flowing water back to the riverbed of the Park River. This mile-long connection, called the GreenWalk, provides the east-west backbone for downtown's 10 mile pedestrian network of streets and sidewalks. Fused with the north-south Main Street ridge, this irregular grid creates the seams of the iQuilt, weaving together more than 40 historic and cultural landscapes, sites, artworks, and institutions.

The early work of the iQuilt Plan was done by The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts as they sought to develop a formal vision for their Capitol Avenue and Bushnell Park neighborhood. Leadership at The Bushnell, with support from their Board, chose to think broadly and look beyond their immediate block. With support from the Greater Hartford Arts Council and the City of Hartford, they moved forward the idea for a master plan focused on walkability.

The plan has almost universal support from multiple constituencies. Mayor Pedro Segarra and the City of Hartford have championed the iQuilt plan as a critical component of One City, One Plan, the City's Plan of Conservation and Development. City development officials and planning staff are pushing the initiative forward and have been successful in securing a $13 million TIGER IV federal transportation grant to implement portions of the plan. Mayor Segarra has committed an additional $10 million in Capital Improvement Program funds over two years to complete transit and streetscape improvements in the core Downtown area.

Since its earliest days in 2008, the iQuilt Plan has engaged the public in the process of developing its themes, concepts, designs, and strategies. This has included more than 17 public presentations and workshops and more than 80 briefings for over two thousand public officials, stakeholder groups, and private citizens. A website launched in April 2011 has attracted more than 7,500 individual viewers and 25,000 page views. In the relatively new governance structure of the iQuilt Partnership, a 501c3 non-profit organization has been created. This new partnership Board along with a Board of Corporators, that includes 50 members of the public, is responsible for project oversight.

The partnerships that this plan has forged have made, and will continue to make, Hartford a stronger and more unified city. The iQuilt Plan has brought together many different organizations and institutions; all with the aim of making Downtown Hartford more welcoming. And iQuilt will provide "a shared living room for all residents of Hartford to come together."