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Docomomo US Tour Day — Wooster Square: Urban Renewal Meets Historic Preservation in New Haven

  • Meets at the corner of Academy and Chapel Streets Academy and Chapel Streets New Haven, CT, 06511 United States (map)

New Haven Central Fire Headquarters designed by Earl P. Carlin and Peter Millard, 1961.

Wooster Square is one of New Haven’s most fascinating neighborhoods, a maritime area that became a fashionable upper-class enclave then a gritty industrial/immigrant neighborhood. In the 1960s, Wooster Square’s urban renewal program was one of the first to renovate, rather than replace, deteriorated buildings on a wide scale. This tour will explore how renewal changed the neighborhood, demolishing some structures and scattering their inhabitants while renovating other buildings and adding new ones designed by leading Modernist architects or local practitioners.

This tour will be led by Christopher Wigren, Deputy Director of Preservation Connecticut, and a volunteer for NHPT.

Registration for this event is now filled.

Join thousands of participants in cities across the U.S. throughout the month of October for Docomomo Tour Day, an annual celebration of modern architecture and design. Tours will explore the multifaceted theme of urban renewal — seeking to revisit and better understand the complexity of the projects that were built, their significance, positive and negative impacts, and their legacy today.

Learn more about Docomomo Tour Day across the country →