Park Development

Park Status

• As soon as the historic brownstone buildings 8 & 10 or Forge and Foundry are officially transferred to the National Park Service we will be an official Park!
• However, this is a long and complex process and we have no current estimate for the land transfer completion.

Background

• Congress authorizes the establishment of new national park units. A park's authorizing legislation can call for the establishment of a new unit immediately OR it can require that certain conditions be met (e.g., sufficient lands are acquired, certain agreements are in place) before a new park can be established.
• Coltsville was authorized under the Defense Spending bill in December 2014.
• To become "established," the legislation calls for us to accomplish three major things:

1. Enter into a written agreement with the City of Hartford
2. Enter into a written agreement with Colt Gateway LLC (the current land owner)
3. Acquire a donation of property for the park

• We have accomplished both #1 and #2 and are diligently working through the property transfer.

In the mean time. . .

• Until a park is formally established as a unit of the National Park System, the National Park Service role is largely limited to pursuing the work necessary to accomplish that important milestone. This involves a lot of “behind the scenes” efforts to complete the required agreements and land acquisition called for in the legislation.
• The park managers are currently reaching out to the wider community to introduce the National Park Service and, when resources are available, offer limited public programs.
• Unfortunately, we do not have a park stamp until the park is established.
• Please feel free to contact us with any questions.