Senator Joe Markley (R-Southington) remains skeptical about spending state money on a project for the capitol city, known as iQuilt. The project has been described as a culture-based urban design plan intended to make the city of Hartford more physically attractive and walkable, with a total estimated cost of $100M.
“I’m always watching out for government waste and so far I’m not sold on this project,” said Sen. Markley. “Keeping an open mind I will be attending a forum on iQuilt to learn more about the project and I encourage others to do the same.”
Project organizers say some of the $100 million estimated cost will come from private contributions, but have not yet provided a public-private funding breakout.
The project has received a $10M "tiger grant" from the Federal Government and $13M of matching city funds.
Organizers say the objective of future forums is to discuss the role government spending will play in the iQuilt plan and to consider the benefits and costs of that spending as a means of promoting economic development in Hartford.
