national Fire Insurance Company announed its plan to move to Asylum Hill

1. From Sidney Maxwell’s statement:

• After long and careful consideration, the Board of Directors of the National Fire Insurance Company of Hartford have decided that the time has come to purchase a tract of land outside of the congested district, large enough not only for the National’s present purposes but for its future growth, on which to erect a Home Office which will conform with modern ideas of safety, health and comfort of employees as well as efficiency and appearance.”
• “In seeking a new location in Hartford, or possibly in West Hartford, suitable for its present and future needs, the National found several desirable locations in West Hartford, but it was strongly urged that, being a Hartford institution since its incorporation in 1871, the Home Office should, if possible, be continued within the corporate limits of the City of Hartford.”

2. From Thomas Spellacy’s statement:

• “Hartford is exceptionally fortunate that in so many instances our citizens are willing to make personal sacrifices for the welfare and good of the community. To those who cooperate by giving up their homes to make possible civic improvement, Hartford should be and is indebted.”
• “The appreciation of Hartford should be extended to the National for its decision to building in Hartford.”
• “The erection of an office building costing approximately $2,000,000 on the site where the National Fire Insurance Company is to locate will for generations preserve the character of that beautiful street. It will mean that the trees will remain standing, that the lawns and shrubbery will continue to exist and that the value of the neighboring property will be enhanced.  It will in effect be a park.”
• “It is very desirous that there be no advantage taken of the vacation season and a public hearing before the Aldermanic Committee as well as consideration by the City Plan Commission of the application will not be held until after Labor Day, so that if there are any objections, there will be a chance to voice the opposition.”
• “The property on the northwest corner of Woodland Street and Asylum Avenue is in the control of the Aetna (Fire) Insurance Company. That property is already zoned for business.  I have consulted with the officials of this company and no advantage will be taken of that zoning privilege.  The Company will cooperate with the city officials and its neighbors in that vicinity to preserve the character of the neighborhood.”
• “When the dike work is completed, there are in contemplation industrial improvements which will greatly add to the grand list and the employment situation in Hartford, necessarily increasing the purchasing power of all our citizens. This arrangement is in a tentative stage and can not be announced at present, but is a most important development.”

1. The National Fire Insurance Company began to consider sites in West Hartford for a new home office building.
2. Thomas Spellacy learned about these considerations and interceded in order to encourage National Fire to remain in Hartford, meeting with Sidney T. Maxwell of the company.
3. Spellacy also met with Stillman F. Westbrook of the neighborhood.

Negotiations to acquire the properties in the 16-acre tract were underway and were being handled by Skinner Brothers.  The company apparently had acquired options on many of the parcels on the block, in particular from “the present property owners interested in the retention of this company in Hartford.”

The company will present a petition for the desired zone change to next meeting of the Board of Aldermen on August 21, 1939.

1. The “property on the northwest corner of Woodland Street and Asylum Avenue” was 83 Woodland Street, better known as the Goodwin Castle.

• Aetna Fire Insurance Company controlled this property, having acquired it subject to a life tenancy for Sarah Lippincott Goodwin. Goodwin had died on April 23, 1939.
• Aetna Fire bought the former Aetna Life Insurance Company building in June 1939, at which time it announced it would not build anything at 83 Woodland Street.

2. National Fire Insurance Company viewed its plan as “following the trend toward the west side of the city” begun by the Hartford Fire Insurance Company almost 20 years earlier.
3. The Courant considered Spellacy to have been “instrumental in prevailing upon the National Fire Insurance Company to build its new home office in this city, rather than in West Hartford where several desirable locations were considered”.

1. Maxwell said that “purchase of the tract is conditional on action by the city changing the zone of the block from its present residential limitation to permit the erection of the proposed building.”
2. “In its search for a tract of land outside the congested district as a site for anew building, the National, according to Mr. Maxwell, found several desirable locations in West Hartford, but was strongly urged, as a Hartford institution since its organization in 1871, to remain in the city.”

1. Who was who

• Thomas J. Spellacy was the mayor of Hartford.
• Sidney T. Maxwell was the executive vice president of National Fire.
• Stillman F. Westbrook was the representative of property owners in the block National Fire sought to acquire.
• Skinner Brothers were real estate brokers.

2. National Fire Insurance Company

• The employees of National Fire currently worked in three connecting buildings on Pearl (33, 95, 109-11, 113-115, & 119-121), Lewis (15 & 37), and Trumbull (92-94) Streets.
• The company’s plan was to move all 400 of its employees into a new building and under one roof.

3. Proper procedure for considering zone changes at this time:

• Petition presented to the Board of Alderman at a regular meeting
• The Board referred the petition to its Zoning Committee for a public hearing and to the City Plan Commission for its opinion on the petition.
• The Zoning Committee makes a recommendation, and the City Plan Commission offers its opinion.
• The Board was responsible for the final decision.

4. Properties affected

• Asylum Avenue: 990, 1008, 1010, 1930
• Woodland Street: 94, 96, 98, 100, 106
• Atwood Street: 17, 19, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31

5. Who and what would be displaced

• Chauncey B. Brewster, the Episcopal Bishop of Connecticut (100 Woodland)
• A dormitory for Saint Francis Hospital (Collins)
• The estate of William L. Collins

Garfin, Nathan W.  “16-acre Tract bounded by Asylum, Woodland, Collins, Atwood Streets being sought,” Hartford Courant, July 28, 1939, page 1.

Unattributed.  “National Fire to build new $2,000,000 home here if zone changed,” Hartford Courant, July 28, 1939, page 1.