Rell proposes cuts to Middletown bonds

The Hartford Courant reported in its Saturday edition that Governor Rell has proposed canceling state and local bonds to fund projects that have already been authorized. In Middletown, these proposed cuts include the following:

• Kidcity Children's Museum. $1,000,000 from the Commission on Culture and Tourism for construction of a new building.
  
• South Fire District. $475,000 from Public Safety for renovation of fire stations.
• Crystal Lake. $50,000 from the Department of Environmental Protection for watershed management.

The money for Kidcity is for an expansion to create more space for the very popular Middletown destination. The founder of Kidcity, Jen Alexander, told me, "Since the start of the economic downturn last fall, the number of visitors to Kidcity has gone up, and we are seeing more families travel here from outside of Middletown. We have never been as crowded as we were during the schools' February break this year."

Alexander is disappointed to lose the funding, she said in these economic conditions the state and federal governments should be investing in local projects that have long-term benefits, "This is the best time to be making investments like this, so cutting this is short-sighted." She said that if the cut in funding is approved, she will go back to the legislature to apply again for money to accommodate more visitors to the museum.

Kidcity brings in 100,000 visitors per year to downtown Middletown. The legislature will consider these cuts as well as all of Rell's budget proposals as they work on the state budget in the coming months.