Construction Truck Outside Hartford’s Front Street But Not The One You’d Expect

At last:  a construction truck is parked near what would be the entrance to Spotlight Theatre at Front Street in downtown Hartford — but it’s not necessarily the sort of truck you’d want to see.

The truck was from an Ellington company that specializes in lead and asbestos removal. A worker for Bestech at the site this morning, however, told me the concern was for mold that night have developed because of a leak near a drain.

Contractor truck parked today outside of Front Street in downtown Hartford. Photo by Kenneth R. Gosselin/The Hartford Courant.

A project manager for Whiting Turner construction also was at the site today, squirreled away in a makeshift office area at the back of the space. He declined to discuss the project, referring all questions to Greenwich developer HB Nitkin Group.

Peter J. Christian, Nitkin’s director of development, said today construction on the theater is indeed getting underway and activity will be increasing in the weeks ahead.

Christian said the multiscreen theater is expected to open this summer, but he declined to be more specific about a date. Summer officially runs from late June to late September.

Good news? Maybe. Nitkin has given timetables before, and they haven’t panned out. We’ll  have to wait to see more than the three workers at the site this morning.

Front Street, completed in 2010, has yet to have any tenants move in. Photo by Dan Haar / The Hartford Courant

The theater project has been beset by delays and is now on its second operator, Spotlight Theatres Inc. Originally, it was supposed to open last June. Spotlight had first targeted Thanksgiving, then January and now, this summer.

Spotlight has said it would take four to six months to complete construction once it gets underway.

Spotlight’s president and chief executive Joseph Paletta III didn’t return e-mails Tuesday and today seeking comment.