Steel Point is wedged between the Pequonnock River and the Yellow Mill Channel with Interstate 95 running along its northern border and the Long Island Sound to the south. To be sure, no deals have been cinched for the other elements, but Mayor Bill Finch said Bass Pro Shops would serve as a catalyst for what he describes as Bridgeport’s biggest initiative since the Industrial Revolution. The city plans to add other shops, hotels, a public waterfront and up to 2.6 million square feet of housing in a project estimated at $1 billion. The city and state combined have spent about $100 million on the venture over the past three decades, but those efforts have been slowed by property disputes, a corruption scandal and three recessions.īridgeport officials now say the fortunes of Steel Point will turn this summer when building begins on the area’s first anchor, a 150,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shops, which sells boats and outdoor supplies. Six Bridgeport mayors have sought to redevelop the 52-acre peninsula on Long Island Sound, named for a steel works that operated there for decades. But in Bridgeport’s historic Steel Point neighborhood, it signals a sea change for a long-dormant civic dream.
Bridgeport’s Steel Point Redevelopment Nears Launchīuilding Is Set to Begin This Summer on Area’s First AnchorīRIDGEPORT, Conn.-In most cities, the sight of heavy construction vehicles rumbling down the street doesn’t merit a second glance.
