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Travelers Tower observation deck


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I was in Hartford today with a friend of mine and we decided to take a trip to the Travelers Tower observation deck (my first). I was blown away, the only complaint I have was the weather - just a bit too hazy, it was hard to see past 5 or 6 miles out. The tour guide was telling us that on a clear day you can see everything from Buckland Hills to the Mass. state border. He was one of the nicest guys I've ever met. Very knoweldegable as well. I was asking him questions about certain projects and he was up to date just like the rest of us. I highly recommend taking the tour if you haven't already. Hartford looks HUGE from the observation deck. The pictures don't even do it justice.

P.S. JoJo, I stopped by for a cup of coffee at about 11:45am and told the woman who served me to say hello to you, don't know if she told you or not.

OK, enough chit chat, let's get down to business...

The Northland tower is going to look amazing from this shot in the future. Crossing my fingers that it's over 25 stories...

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The ugly BofA building ;)

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Reflections of a golden age (pun intended)

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The newbie making an appearance

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Do helicopters land on the UTC building anymore?

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More of the same

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Looking NW

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The jewel of Hartford with the remnants of the Park River

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St. Francis Hospital in the distance

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Looking SW. Park Place towers in the foreground, UConn med center in the distance

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UConn med center through the haze

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Bushnell Tower with ugly surface parking on Capitol Ave

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Looking South down Main Street. Hartford Hospital (white cluster of buildings) in the distance

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Same shot w/o the ugly MDC building getting in the way

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Burr Mall

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Looking North to State House Square

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Panning East to Constitution Plaza (College?)

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That big screen ticker thing outside the UConn business school

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Looking NE, Phoenix headquarters in the foreground, Science Center under construction to the far right

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Science Center construction w/ my friend's hand in the way

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Looking directly East at the Marriott and Conevntion Center

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Ditto

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Front Street - 6 years and still empty parking lots...

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!#@*

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Nice...but Spanish steps? Are you kidding me?

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Now wouldn't that make a nice College?!?

It's an original idea for sure. Great way to attract the youngins to the city.

Back to the TT observation deck for a sec...it seems like they have made the whole experience more user friendly over the past couple months. I showed up at the Travelers Tower lobby about 3 months ago hoping to get to the observation deck and the guard basically shooed me off and said I had to have an appointment. However, if you call the number today(277-4208) you are directly connected to the tour guide's voicemail, and although a reservation is still prefered, he makes a point at the end of the voicemail that walk-ins are welcome. Furthermore, I asked the guide how often he takes people up to the deck and I was surprised to learn that there are 4 or 5 groups scheduled everyday. He was telling me people who were visiting from Belgium and another group from Tibet had made reservations for later in the afternoon. It's a great tourist destination and I think Hartford is finally realizing it. Next up we just have to get them to open it up on the weekends and at night for a couple hours.

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This is a great thread, gives me a good sense of where things are. I'm loving the gold building for some reason, a not very often used surface treatment (wouldn't want to see more than one in any city though). I like the BofA Building but I'm not too keen on the top, does that little recessed area get lit at night?

Question, can the Whitehead Highway go away? I mean, can't it just have ramps from 91 leading to a surface road? It doesn't connect to any other expressways, it just ends eventually at surface streets, just make it end sooner. It's really a horrible barrier.

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I like the BofA Building but I'm not too keen on the top, does that little recessed area get lit at night?

Unfortunately, no. The only part that gets lit up are the "Bank of America" letters.

Question, can the Whitehead Highway go away? I mean, can't it just have ramps from 91 leading to a surface road? It doesn't connect to any other expressways, it just ends eventually at surface streets, just make it end sooner. It's really a horrible barrier.

It can and it should be. You're right, it is a horrible barrier. It severs off downtown from the Coltsville/south downtown area. Maybe we (Hartford forumers) should focus on moving this highway as a priority, because this is very realistic in the near future. I-84 and I-91 we can only dream about moving right now.

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Unfortunately, no. The only part that gets lit up are the "Bank of America" letters.

It can and it should be. You're right, it is a horrible barrier. It severs off downtown from the Coltsville/south downtown area. Maybe we (Hartford forumers) should focus on moving this highway as a priority, because this is very realistic in the near future. I-84 and I-91 we can only dream about moving right now.

The whitehead highway was originally built to connect with I-84 where it starts its curve past the union station. There is parts of highway ramp built that stop in mid air but never were connected to anything, they are still there today. Back when the highway was built the road was actually suppose to go under ground most of the way to 84.

You would think making this highway a regular street would be part of the Front street project. They wouldn

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This is a great thread, gives me a good sense of where things are. I'm loving the gold building for some reason, a not very often used surface treatment (wouldn't want to see more than one in any city though). I like the BofA Building but I'm not too keen on the top, does that little recessed area get lit at night?

Question, can the Whitehead Highway go away? I mean, can't it just have ramps from 91 leading to a surface road? It doesn't connect to any other expressways, it just ends eventually at surface streets, just make it end sooner. It's really a horrible barrier.

They just did all new stonework on the sides of Whitehead highway, and redone the bridge on Columbus BLVD that goes over the highway. I doubt they will do away with it.

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The Park River could easily be lined with narrow pedestrian only streets from Pulaski Circle down to the Convention Center. Smaller scale residential could line these quiet streets. And if a small marina (there would be a height restriction due to 1-91) could be incorporated down by those acres of surface lots down by the Candy Cane building, we would have a winner. It would link downtown to Coltsville.

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  • 3 months later...
I like the Whitehead highway. I think it would do wonders for Econ development if they linked it to 84 and buried it under Bushnell park.

I think they should continue the trend of the Hartford public library and add construction on top of it to "bury" it.

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  • 3 months later...

Hopefully they'll put the umbrella back on the Plaza Building. Now they just need to make Hartford the HQ again, and add a couple thousand jobs.

St. Paul Travelers To Change Company Name To Travelers And Bring Back Iconic Red Umbrella

Stock ticker to be TRV

SAINT PAUL, Minn., Feb 13, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The St. Paul Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:STA) announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to reacquire the familiar red umbrella trademark, a highly recognizable symbol that had represented Travelers and insurance protection for decades. After the closing of the transaction, the company will change its name to The Travelers Companies, Inc. and will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the new stock symbol "TRV." The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. "The red umbrella is one of the great American business icons. It's a familiar representation of protection and insurance that is in-synch with our customers' ever-changing needs," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jay Fishman. "Bringing back the umbrella and changing the company name will further advance the highly regarded Travelers brand."

The umbrella is believed to have first appeared as an illustration of insurance protection in a Travelers ad in 1870, and, as the red umbrella, became the official company trademark in 1959. The red umbrella became increasingly synonymous with Travelers insurance protection and innovation over the decades. A decision by Citigroup to pursue a unified global brand identity allowed Travelers to regain the familiar insurance industry icon, which continues to be most closely identified with Travelers.

"We're pleased to be bringing the reassuring red umbrella back home to Travelers, as part of our focused efforts to continue building the Travelers brand for home, auto and business insurance customers," said Fishman.

The company expects to allocate the purchase price principally to the umbrella trademark, which will be recorded as an asset and is not subject to amortization for accounting purposes. Accordingly, the company will not record a charge to earnings upon closing of the transaction. The company expects to close the transaction by mid-March.

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If I was someone who was a big fan of St. Paul, Minn., I might be pretty worried. It would not surprise me if they transplanted their headquarters operations entirely into Hartford. I have no evidence to back this thought up, just a feeling. We have seen a trend of this company moving away from its St. Paul roots, and jumping on the roots of Travelers and Hartford over the past 12 months or so.

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If I was someone who was a big fan of St. Paul, Minn., I might be pretty worried. It would not surprise me if they transplanted their headquarters operations entirely into Hartford. I have no evidence to back this thought up, just a feeling. We have seen a trend of this company moving away from its St. Paul roots, and jumping on the roots of Travelers and Hartford over the past 12 months or so.
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