Issues. People. Events.

A New Day

Story and Photographs By John Murray

  Waterbury Mayor Mike Jarjura can peer out the window of his office in the Chase Building and watch the finishing touches being applied to a $36 million dollar restoration project of City Hall. The battle to restore the architectural jewel was fierce, with some even proposing to demolish the building and start anew. Mayor Jarjura never wavered in his vision to save the 95 year old building and to fully restore it to its original glory.

   “I hope I’m remembered as the mayor who modernized the financial and physical structure of the city,” Jarjura said. “I have a deep loyalty to history, and our magnificent City Hall is part of what made Waterbury, Waterbury.”

   Jarjura understands the concerns some taxpayers have about the cost of the project. “Some of our citizens are struggling for food and will not be able to appreciate the history and architecture of City Hall, but I believe in 100 years people will look back on our decision and say it was the right thing to do.”
   

Aldermanic Chambers

 Cass Gilbert was the leading architect in the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century. He
created the designs for many important buildings including New York City’s Woolworth Building, the world’s first skyscraper, as well as the United States Supreme Court building in Washington, D. C.

After years of neglect, an interior courtyard has been restored to it’s former glory.

The Waterbury Development Corporation managed the restoration project and two of it’s employees, Andrew Martelli, right, and Kevin Taylor, middle, were the problem solvers.