Constitution Plaza, Hartford

Constitution Plaza is a landmark mid-20th-century commercial and mixed-use development in downtown Hartford, situated just east of the Old State House. Spanning multiple city blocks, the complex is composed of two primary plazas linked by an elevated pedestrian bridge-one featuring a European-style setting with a 40-foot granite clock tower and patterned brick, the other centered around a large modernist fountain.

Developed between 1961 and 1964, Constitution Plaza marked Hartford’s first major urban renewal effort. Spearheaded by local corporate leaders, the project replaced the once-vibrant but deteriorating Front Street neighborhood, historically home to a working-class Italian-American community. While hailed as a model of progress at the time, the wholesale demolition of that tight-knit district remains a subject of controversy, with nostalgia for its restaurants, shops, and character lingering to this day. Ironically, “Front Street” was later revived as the name for a new development project near the Connecticut Convention Center-though it, too, has seen its share of setbacks.

The design of Constitution Plaza was overseen by Hartford architect Charles DuBose and represents a rare surviving example of 1960s commercial urban planning. Its three prominent office towers once showcased sleek glass-and-spandrel panels-two of which have recently been updated with reflective, energy-efficient glass. Yet some architectural critics note the replacements lack the original’s moody character and understated elegance, which once helped the landscaping and public spaces take visual precedence.

Today, Constitution Plaza remains a significant, if occasionally underappreciated, piece of Hartford’s built environment-a symbol of both ambition and ambivalence in the city’s postwar transformation.