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www.HartfordBusiness.com November26,2012•Hartford Business Journal 51 Celebrating 20 Years of Business News UConn's School of Business unveils architectural plans for a state-of-the-art business education center at 100 Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford. Classes begin later this year. The Hartford Business Journal moves from its Parkville offices on Arbor Street to occupy the fourth floor at 15 Lewis St. Sixteen months after the Hartford Redevelopment Agency chose David Nyberg as the developer of One American Plaza, Hartford com- pletes the sale to him for $1.4 million. The Shops at Evergreen Walk in South Windsor opens. After years of planning, the Hartford 21 project, formerly called Town Square, breaks ground. Northland Investment Corp's chair- man and CEO Larry Gottesdiener noted, "Hartford 21 will replace the bunker-like Civic Center Mall and help transform Hartford into a daytime, nighttime, anytime destination." Cesar Pelli & Associates of New Haven is selected from among four finalists to design the $150 million Connect- icut Center for Sci- ence & Exploration. At the conclu- sion of a frequent- ly heated debate between BBS Development and M i c h i g a n - b a s e d Taubman Centers Inc. (owners of Westfarms Mall), West Hartford resi- dents turn out by the thousands to vote 60 percent "yes" to Blue Back Square. 2005 Foxwoods embarks on a $700 million expansion that will include 145,000 square feet of meeting space, four new restaurants, four new retail stores, three night clubs and three casino lounges. St. Clemens Castle, an 82-acre estate, is adding an 80-room inn for an estimated $15 million. The Utopia project, across the Thames River from Mohegan Sun, is unveiled. The proposed complex includes movie studios, a performing arts school, theme parks and waterfront hotels with up to 4,200 rooms. The Connecticut Convention Center is open for business, followed shortly by The Hartford Marriott Downtown, capping the Hartford Convention Complex. Connecticut embraces stem cell research. The legislature passes a $100 million 10-year landmark bill and a new and stronger ethics commission. Cabela's, which calls itself "the world's foremost outfitter" announc- es its intention to build a 200,000-square-foot outdoor experience store at Rentschler Field. ING confirms its intention to move its offices from Hartford to Rentschler Field, as well. HBJ Today debuts Sept. 26, providing a weekday email report of business news and information. L i q u i d a t i o n sales began at 525 Casual Corner and Petite Sophisticate shops nationwide, as Enfield-based Retail Brand Alliance gets ready to hand out about 600 pink slips in CT and a total of 8,000 nationwide. St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center announces plans for a $102 million eight-story patient tower on Ashley Street at its Woodland Street campus in Hartford. The Hitchcock Chair Co., the 180-year old furniture manufacturer famous for hand-painted stencils on chairs, goes up for sale. 2006 Goodwin College acquires about 400 acres, with 2.5 miles of riverfront land that stretches from the Charter Oak Bridge in east Hartford, to the Putnam Bridge in Glaston- bury, plus some land on the west side of the river in Wethersfield, as part of its planned $85 to $100 million campus. A state fund to promote urban home ownership is reborn under an agreement between Ameriquest Mortgage Co. and the state Department of Banking. Connecticut is one of 48 states to reach a settlement with the firm to pay consumers to cover its past predatory lending practices. The PGA Tour event in Connecticut is brought back to life with St Paul Travelers as new title sponsor. The St. Paul Travelers Championship will be played at the TPC at River Highlands in Cromwell one week after the U.S. Open. Aetna, a previous sponsor, will continue as a "cham- pion sponsor." The Gold Building on Main and Pearl streets is for sale, joining a list of downtown office buildings that have gone on the block in the past year and a half. Insurers, long the driving force of Hartford's economy, are feeling underappreciated. They've created a collective advertis- ing and public relations campaign called, "Insure Connecticut's Future," aimed at expanding recognition of the insurance indus- try's importance to the local economy and community. Members include The Hartford, St. Paul Travelers, Aetna, Mass Mutual, and ConnectiCare. New Britain General and Bradley Memorial hospital merge to reduce costs and improve medical services in central Connecticut. Both hospitals will remain open, renamed as Central Hospital of Central Connecticut at New Britain and Hospital of Central Con- necticut at Bradley Memorial, both under parent company Central Connecticut Health Alliance. The former G. Fox building at 960 Main Street is refinanced by owners Hartford Downtown Revival LLC for $25 million which splits the building into an office condo and a retail condo. The building has three floors of retail and nine floors of office space. 2007 After overseeing 27 acquisitions in 15 years as chairman an CEO of the bank now known as TD Banknorth, Bill Ryan finally has to sit one out — the sale of TD Banknorth itself for $32 bil- lion to its majority shareholder, Toronto-based TD Bank Financial Group. The Mark Twain House ends its practice of being renting out for weddings, conferences and conventions. A world of headaches and too much wear and tear at the site were rea- sons given to end the practice. Reuters agrees to a $17.2 billion takeover by Stamford-based Thomson that would vault the combined entity ahead of Bloom- berg to become the world's largest financial data and news provider. Northwest Air launches the first transatlantic flights to Amster- dam from Bradley International. TIMELINE The Past 20 Years 2004 2005 2006 Claudio Del Vecchio discusses the ingredients for retailing success in his Madison Avenue Brooks Brothers office. Officials of Goodwin College examine the site of its future campus along the Connecticut River. Pictured above (from left) are Goodwin officials Todd Andrews, Frank Amodio, Dan N. Larson, Mary Beth Reid, Goodwin College President Mark Scheinberg, and Bryant Harrell. Cesar Pelli, president of Alt Technica of New York City, discusses his CT Science Center model. TD Banknorth CEO Bill Ryan, left, and President Bharat Masrani.