New Riverfront Park Eyes Performance Space After TheaterWorks Show

\What to do with the 60 acres of open waterfront space on the Hartford-Windsor border that Riverfront Recapture acquired last year?

The private, nonprofit organization is planning a riverwalk, the transformation of a 10-acre cove for recreational use, and setting aside another 10 acres for possible commercial development.

It’s also eyeing an outdoor performance space.

Last summer scores of masked theatergoers parked their cars on a dusty lot, just off I-91, then walked on a dirt path along a stretch of woods and meadow until they reached a clearing near the Connecticut River.

When they arrived, they sat on canvas folding chairs, donned headphones, spritzed complimentary bug spray and watched an ad-hoc outdoor production of “Walden,” put on by TheaterWorks Hartford, the company’s first show in front of a live audience since the pandemic began.

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Both TheaterWorks and Riverfront Recapture partnered in the project, which was a learning experience for both organizations. TheaterWorks saw an opportunity to engage its audience in a new experience, while Riverfront Recapture wanted to see if its newly-acquired property was viable as a public performance space.

“We learned that it is possible to produce in that raw space,” said Michael Zaleski, president and CEO of Riverfront Recapture, which reported $4.9 million in revenue in fiscal 2021, according to its annual report. “As we continue to develop the space into a brand new park, we’re now interested in figuring out how we can build the infrastructure to continue to produce all sorts of artistic offerings. I think this is going to be a great space for summertime theater, for music and dance and other types of cultural offerings. There’s nothing better than being down by the water, for a sense of calm and creativity that you don’t get anywhere else.”

However, the site is far from ready for an encore production.

What’s most needed to continue outdoor shows is access to electricity to provide lighting and …|CONTINUED|