In-house-designed depiction of New Haven's skyline on a wall of Fuss & O'Neill's new 59 Elm St. office suite.
Engineers in the thick of building up the new New Haven set up shop themselves in the center of town.
The engineers work for a Manchester-based firm called Fuss & O’Neill, which has moved one of its regional offices from the town of Trumbull to the fifth floor of 59 Elm St.
Officials Thursday afternoon joined the firm’s members in cutting a ribbon on the almost‑7,000 square-foot suite. It was the second downtown office ribbon-cutting in two days; Newman Architects christened its new 15th-floor digs around the corner on Church Street a day earlier. Mayor Justin Elicker (at far right in photo with Chamber prez Garrett Sheehan, U.S. Sen. Dick Blumenthal, and Fuss & O’Neill Regional Manager and Senior Vice President Craig Lapinski) noted how at both events he noted “this vibe that everything is happening in New Haven” and employees want to work here.
Sen. Blumenthal (pictured), who’s running for reelection, reminded the dozens assembled for the opening that billions of more construction dollars are headed New Haven’s way under the federal Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act. “We are going to need your talents and skills and vision. We’re going to need you to make this program work.”
The new Fuss digs feature panoramic window views of the city the firm is helping to reshape. The space includes a desk-sharing “hotel-ing” area (pictured) for some of the 30 people who work at the location but in-person not every day.
The suite features photos of New Haven projects Fuss & O’Neill has worked on, including the DISTRICT innovation center in Fair Haven, the 100 College St. biosciences tower, the New Haven Green’s tree-lined walkway, and Yale’s Baker Hall, Hall of Graduate Studies courtyard, and Hendrie Hall. The firm is currently involved in the under-construction 101 College St. biosciences tower as well as the project planned to rise on the grave of the former New Haven Coliseum.
Jharnee Laird of the Slice of New Haven food truck/catering company put out the pies for Thursday's guests ...
... while Tom Falco of the Two Pour Guys bartending outfit poured the libations, including his favorite Foxon Park Kola.
The state government wants to attract and retain young people, so it also should consider moving more of its meetings to New Haven. New Haven used to be the co-capital with Hartford of course. Most of the young employees seem to live in New Haven now, since they only have to go to Hartford once per week and vastly prefer to live in a vibrant city (Hartford is still pretty dead), so it would be easier on them. New Haven is also a little easier to get to for most residents statewide, especially via transit. City Hall, 200 Orange, and local hotels have plenty of space to hold such meetings.