Sunday, February 27, 2005

'Bring Back The Isle Of Safety'

Wilson H. Faude, historical consultant and executive director emeritus of the Old State House, argues in an op-ed article appearing in today's Hartford Courant that the Isle of Safety should be returned to its original home at the intersection of State and Main streets. The Isle, with its signature red-tiled roof, was erected in 1913 as a place where people could wait for trolley cars, safe from traffic and the weather. It remained even when buses replaced the trolley. But in 1976, a redesign of the traffic flow around the Old State House resulted in the Isle's removal, and it eventually ended up at the Connecticut Trolley Museum in East Windsor, where it's on display today. Faude writes that returning the Isle "to its rightful place in the center of downtown would make a powerful statement about the revival of the city."

The Connecticut Trolley Museum has a photograph of the Isle on its website, at www.ct-trolley.org.

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