Alums Change Face of Hartford
17 March 2009 Alums Change Face of Hartford
Two Hobart classmates are responsible for changing the look of downtown Hartford, Conn., but in very different ways. Wilson (Bill) Faude 69 is the executive director of the Old State House who helped bring the historic building back from ruin. Ted Sergi 69 is the CEO behind one of the Citys newest and most modern buildings, the Connecticut Science Center.
Faude, according to Diane Woodfield Whitney, 67 is almost single-handedly responsible for the resurrection of Hartfords Old State House, located in the center of Hartford. He took it from a complete wreck to a showpiece, funding the project by innovative methods such as his Window Tax, where every company that looked out at the Old State House paid a tax per window to support the project.
Sergis building is under construction and nearly complete only a block away from the Old State House.
According to a recent article on Courant.com, the Connecticut Science Center is a glass-and-concrete building with the flying carpet rooftop that, suddenly, presides over the entrance to Hartford.
Faude was a member of the Druid Society and the Little Theatre at Hobart and graduated with a B.A. in European history.
The Courant.com ran a piece of Faudes artwork online; with the following information about him:
Wilson Bill H. Faude, a native of Hartford who now lives in West Hartford, has been the curator of the Mark Twain House and the executive director of the Old State House.
In his spare time, he works on various art projects in a variety of mediums. In 1997, the needlepoint bench he designed and worked on was awarded first prize at Eastern States, with an additional special award for design. His paintings have been exhibited in New York at The Century Club.
Sergi earned a B.A. in economics from Hobart and is a former Commissioner of Education in Connecticut. Following is an article about Sergis project as it appeared in the Courant.
Courant.com
Heres Hoping Science Center Helps To Create Scientists
Rick Green January 2, 2009
Ted Sergi pushed the hard hat down on my head and shoved me into the bowels of the Connecticut Science Center, the glass-and-concrete building with the flying carpet rooftop that, suddenly, presides over the entrance to Hartford.
Hard as it is to believe, something big really is about to happen here.
A once-in-a-generation building will open this spring, right downtown, and it doesnt involve a sports team. This big deal will be impossible to miss, especially at night, when the dramatic floating rooftop is lit up.
This big glass skyscraper is a giant red exclamation point emphasizing a crisis: Not enough kids are into science. Its not a stretch to say this isnt merely the future of Hartford or Connecticut we are talking about.
Sergi, science center president and Connecticuts last bully pulpit education commissioner, leads me up the stairs of the still unfinished building to the grand staircase off Columbus Boulevard, into the 160-foot-high atrium, through the exhibit halls and to the Willy Wonka-style glass elevator.
It isnt done, but I can see this is like nothing else in Hartford. No wonder theyve invited President-elect Barack Obama to the opening.
The American and Connecticut traditions and culture paint science as something that is too hard, and for only a few people, said Sergi, who for the last five years has been presiding over fundraising and construction of a $160 million project that actually gives us something good to say about the legacy of John Rowland.
Science, Sergi told me, doesnt have to be too hard, and it should interest a lot more people.
This building didnt come cheap taxpayers forked over $120 million, Sergi raised another $40 million but neither is the price we pay for the steady outflow of highly educated young people from the state.
Is it possible that a museum a science center could change this? Sergi thinks so, hoping that it will ignite the nascent scientist within at least some of the thousands of students expected to visit.
Sergi told me the scary numbers behind the crisis: Just 13 percent of graduate degrees in the United States are in the sciences, compared to our international competitors, where 30 and 40 percent of graduates study science.
The whole thing that science is too hard for me is a hard thing to change, Sergi said.
In Connecticut, where we have a high percentage of residents with advanced degrees in science and engineering and the jobs to employ them, were having a hard time producing new graduates. Were dropping further behind, in fact.
Connecticut schools produce the smallest percentage of bachelors degrees in the sciences in the nation, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. It gets worse. By senior year in high school, the Third International Mathematics and Science Study reports, U.S. students trail students in 17 other countries in math and science literacy.
The ambitious goal of the Cesar Pelli-designed center is to turn kids on to science with hands-on activities and exhibits like the Mars Flyover in the exploring space hall.
Sergi and construction manager David Elliott take me through the five large galleries. Theres a digital theater ($5,000 will buy you a seat with your own name on it), six floors of exhibit rooms and rooftop decks overlooking the Connecticut River.
If the new center inspires young people to say I really like that or I want to do more of that, then it will be worth it, Sergi said after we finished our tour.
This is a long-term thing, he said. The issue here is can we get a greater percentage of our young people excited about science and studying science.
Thats the important question. Will this $160 million attraction really mean something or will it merely be a place to go with the kids and out-of-town visitors on a rainy Saturday?
Rick Greens column appears on Tuesdays and Fridays. Read his blog at courant.com/rick.
Copyright 2009, The Hartford Courant
The photo above is of the newly built Connecticut Science Center.