A short walk to Trumbull Street. (1970)

This early-1970s promotional film celebrates the planned Hartford Civic Center as the key to downtown renewal and urban optimism. It opens with snippets of local radio DJs, music, and call-in contests that capture the city’s daily energy before shifting to a narrated vision of progress. The film describes the Civic Center—bounded by Church, Asylum, Ann, and Trumbull Streets—as a “city within a city,” featuring a 10,000-seat arena, exhibition hall, mall, public commons, and 23-story office tower, all designed for around-the-clock pedestrian life. Blending documentary imagery, upbeat music, and confident narration, it promises economic growth, new jobs, and increased tax revenue while promoting a walkable, people-oriented downtown linked by elevated walkways and transit. The film concludes with the assurance that the project will “attract everybody, involve everybody, and benefit everybody,” embodying the era’s faith in urban redevelopment and civic unity.

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