Select Initiatives of Governor John G. Rowland
Revitalizing Our Cities
Hartford – New England’s Rising Star
In 1996 Governor Rowland launched the ambitious Pillars of Progress plan to revitalize Hartford. Today, progress continues and the city is teeming with new energy, vision and growth. Follow the progress with the Capitol City Economic Development Authority, created by the Governor to lead the restoration.
Waterbury Highlights
Downtown Waterbury is in the midst of a major transformation. A new UConn campus is bringing 2,000 students downtown. 1,100 new parking spaces are being added between downtown's two new parking garages.
The 2,700 seat Palace Theater, closed since the 1980's will be refurbished and reopened. Up to 1,000 children from Waterbury and the surrounding region will be learning at the Magnet School for the Arts, to open in 2004.
These projects are building on the success of other Brass City success stories, including the Brass Mill Center Mall, the Timexpo Museum, the information technology zone and downtown incentive fund that has attracted new businesses and helped create hundreds of new jobs.
Historic Investments in Education
The Pursuit of Excellence – 21st Century UConn
The ten year, $1 billion UConn 2000 program has transformed the University of Connecticut into the top rated public university in New England and the Storrs campus into a world-class center of higher learning. In 2002, Governor Rowland committed an additional $1.3 billion to 21st Century UConn
Rebuilding K-12 Schools
To ensure each child has the ability to learn in a safe and state of the art environment,. Governor Rowland has invested almost $3 billion to improve and construct new K-12 schools statewide since 1996.
Governor’s Summer Reading Challenge
Since 1996, Connecticut students have read more ten million books as part of the Governor’s Summer Reading Challenge, kicked off in May 1996 by Governor Rowland to encourage students to read during their summer vacations.
Since the first summer, the program has grown from 100,000 students in 254 schools to 213,000 students in 830 schools. In 2002 alone, more than 2 million books were read.
Health Care for Children
More than 214,000 children are now receiving health care through the state’s HUSKY program, proposed and launched by Governor Rowland in 1997.
The program is designed to cover children whose parents are unable to access health insurance on their own and to cover children who are already eligible but not enrolled.
Protecting the Environment for Future Generations
Open Space Preservation, Protection
In 1998, Governor Rowland called for 21 percent of the state’s land to be preserved as open space by 2023. Today, almost 70 percent of that goal has been reached and more than 40,000 additional acres put under permanent protection.
These properties have added thousands of acres to state parks and forests, increased access to Long Island Sound and our rivers, created new recreational areas for residents and most importantly be protected from development.
