STAMFORD - The city will receive $7 million from the federal government to improve Mill River Park, expand Stamford Hospital's emergency room and widen the Atlantic Street railroad bridge underpass, among other projects, U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays announced yesterday.

"We hit a home run - a gigantic home run," Mayor Dannel Malloy said.

More than half of the money - $4 million - is earmarked for removing the Mill River dam and dredging, the first step in a long-awaited renovation of Mill River Park.

"This is the major piece that we have been waiting for five or six years," Land Use Bureau Chief Robin Stein said.

Mill River Collaborative Executive Director Milton Puryear said the project will allow the city to move forward with park redevelopment plans.

"It is the canvas on which the rest of park can be created," he said.

The river will be narrowed to less than half its exiting width, which will increase the land in the park and make space for amenities. The master plan calls for a carousel, fountain, ice rink and a network of trails connecting the greenway with Kosciuszko, Southfield and Scalzi parks.

The dam removal also will open up the river to fish that swim up from Long Island Sound.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has spent $800,000 million on preliminary studies, planning and design.

The city is expected to pay the balance of the $8.5 million project costs, or about $4 million, Puryear said.

The federal funding package also includes nearly $1.5 million for Stamford Water Pollution Control Authority's waste-to-energy plant, which will convert dried sewage into electric power.

Also included is $600,000 to rebuild the city hurricane barrier, $492,200 to remove pollutants from stormwater runoff that flows into rivers and streams, $358,623 toward the $40 million expansion of Stamford Hospital's emergency room, $245,000 to redesign the Atlantic Street underpass to alleviate a traffic bottleneck and $94,000 to buy a new police and fire radio.

Malloy, who has made many trips to Washington, D.C., to lobby for Mill River funding, said the city increased its efforts this year in hopes of getting the project out to bid and the dam removed next year.

"We put in an extra Herculean effort this year," he said.

Shays, R-Bridgeport, said in a statement that he was happy to lend his support.

"With this help, we will be able to continue improving transportation, developing our regional economy and providing critical support for those in our community who need help most," he said.

The $7 million for Stamford was part of an overall $473.5 billion funding bill that cleared the House on Monday and passed the Senate on Tuesday.

The Senate added an amendment that tacked on $70 billion for the Iraq war, according to Shays' spokesman, Dave Natonski.

It went back to the House late yesterday afternoon for a final vote, where it was approved, 272-142.
 
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