2nd tenant heading to Front Street

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) -- Years of delays and problems appear to be finally turning around for the Front Street Project in Downtown Hartford.

A second tenant has been found for the entertainment district at the Connecticut Convention Center Complex.

The State Bonding Commission is expected to give the green light to helping a successful music entrepreneur come to the Capitol City.

The second tenant for the Front Street Entertainment district will go right next door to the new Spotlight Movie Theater complex, which is scheduled to open in November.
         
It's been the dream of Dan Hincks who had a successful career in publishing and five years ago successfully restored the 130 year old Infinity Hall in Norfolk into a tremendously successful music venue, accompanied by an equally successful bistro restaurant.

"I did have my eyes on Hartford right from the very beginning," Hincks said. "But then I came across this amazing place out here in Norfolk."

There are now 250 concerts a year at the Norfolk location. Some have been turned into a successful TV series for Connecticut Public Television.

The concerts span nearly every music genre and have turned this into a music destination, where no one thought it would work.
         
Hincks says the plan is to make the Hartford location just as warm and friendly as Norfolk by recreating the same interior wood architecture that produces superb acoustics.
 
"We absolutely do because people love it up here, the artists and the patrons alike really love this room and the location," he said.
        
With about a million dollars worth of help from the state and four million from other sources, Hincks hopes to have the Front Street location up and running late next year.

"I guess the stars are aligned, so to speak, to come back to Hartford and start the music hall there," he said.

Hincks expects that many of the acts will book in both locations and employ at least 35 people.