Hamden Firm Resurrecting Bridgeport's Pleasure Beach

Since June of 1996, when the famed Pleasure Beach Bridge was destroyed in a fire, the once well-known Bridgeport tourist spot has been virtually unoccupied by humans.

But now thanks to a Hamden company, many local residents who have been clamoring for access to the waterfront location may get their wish.

The city of Bridgeport hired Stantec, located at 2321 Whitney Ave., to develop a master plan for the property’s revitalization. Stantec was founded in 1954 and provides consulting services in planning, engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental sciences, project management, and project economics for infrastructure and facilities projects. 

The company, which began its study of the area in April 2011, revealed its strategy at a public hearing in Bridgeport shortly before Christmas.  

Pleasure Beach is an island located a stone’s throw away from Bridgeport’s East End neighborhood and owned by the city. For decades it was the home of an amusement park and theater as well as a popular beach. It spans from Bridgeport into neighboring Stratford and is also the home of the transmission stations for WICC-600 and WEBE-108.  

The forum was held at the Jettie Tisdale School and was hosted by Stantec’s Gary Sorge.  

“You don’t have to do much to make Pleasure Beach a place people will want to go,” Sorge told the 40+ members who attended the meeting. “There are endless possibilities.”  

The plan calls for the construction of food kiosks, public restrooms, sporting fields, a playground, adult fitness equipment, pavilions and walking paths along with other amenities. But accessibility remains a tremendous problem for the development of Pleasure Beach.

Today, the only access to the property is a better two mile trek from Stratford and through the Long Beach West section of the town. Bridgeport received a $1.9 million grant in 2009 to establish a water taxi service, but establishing that service has not taken place. Both Sorge and Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch have said the water taxi service should be up and running by the end of the year. The water taxi dock would be located at the base of Central Avenue, which is directly across from the city-owned property.

Morgan Kaolian, President of Long Island Sound America, has said late 2012 is not the best idea for moving Pleasure Beach forward.

“I’d like to see public access take place in the summer so that people can enjoy it,” said Kaolian. “The best way to do that would be to purchase Duck Boats like they have in Boston. They are amphibious vehicles and can navigate on both land and water. I’ve tried to work with elected officials on this, but I’m not getting much of a response.”

Of the structures that remain standing on Pleasure Beach, Stantec is looking to incorporate them into the recreation area’s new design. Of these, the bathhouse is prominently the most prominent.

“We envision the bathhouse as most likely being the gateway to Pleasure Beach,” said Sorge.

Another challenge for Stantec and the city is that since the fire, Pleasure Beach has become a natural wildlife refuge and developed into one of the most important birding areas in Connecticut. It is also adjacent to the state’s largest salt marsh, a part of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge. For the project to succeed, man and nature will have to learn to co-exist in harmony.