State Spends $250,000 On Security Upgrades At Governor’s Mansion

For nearly 70 years, the governor’s mansion has stood on a sprawling Hartford estate that is so large that it dips down to the next street in the city’s residential West End.

For all those years, the expansive property was never completely fenced in to block outsiders. But now Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration has spent $250,000 on various security upgrades, including $130,000 to fence in the property completely.

The Hartford Courant’s Dave Altimari reports that the state spent more than $65,000 to install video surveillance and an intercom upgrade, as well as more than $30,000 to install a security system at the Terry Road gate behind the mansion. Terry Road is a quiet, residential street with little traffic, and many passersby don’t even know that they are driving by a portion of the governor’s estate.

The state bought the 19-room mansion in 1943 for less than $40,000, and Governor Raymond E. Baldwin was the first chief executive to move in. Previously, the house had been built by a doctor who lived there for 24 years.

The full report by Altimari is at http://www.courant.com/community/hartford/hc-governormansion-security-20120715,0,3521854.story\

and http://articles.courant.com/2012-05-12/news/hc-malloy-security-costs-0513-20120511_1_governor-malloy-dannel-p-malloy-overtime-budget