BRIDGEPORT, CT, Jan. 22, 2013 – A groundbreaking ceremony will be held on Thursday, Jan. 24, 11:30 a.m.–12:15 p.m.., for Grant Street Plaza, a pedestrian walkway that will improve the safety and appearance of the area outside Bridgeport Hospital’s main entrance. The project is expected to be completed by this fall. Due to the expected cold weather, remarks will take place indoors in the Hospital lobby, followed by the brief ceremonial groundbreaking and photo opportunity outdoors. Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch and other local officials are among those expected to attend the event.
The project began during the week of Dec. 27 and will continue through early summer. Grant Street will be permanently closed to through traffic between Central Avenue and Mill Hill Avenues. During the current phase of construction, vehicles can still access the Agnes & Ernie Kaulbach Parking Pavilion (Grant Street garage) from Central or Mill Hill Avenues. The front entrance of the hospital on Grant Street and the skybridge from the Kaulbach Parking Pavilion also remain open to pedestrians.
In addition, the former Radiation Medicine parking area to the right of the main entrance will not be accessible to vehicles during construction except for the mobile PET/CT scanner. Radiation Medicine patients are now treated at the hospital’s new Trumbull Radiation Oncology Center at 5520 Park Ave.
Later phases of the Grant Street Plaza project will include new walkways, lighting and landscaping.
During the past two years, Bridgeport Hospital has modernized its main lobby with new furniture, floor coverings and lighting. The hospital Auxiliary helped fund a new water sculpture, framed by plantings, just inside the front entrance. New signage has been installed not only in the lobby but throughout the hospital to help direct patients and visitors.
