Freeman Companies Plans for Future Growth in Hartford
June 2nd, 2014
On the occasion of its fifth anniversary, Hartford-based engineering firm, Freeman Companies, LLC, has announced its relocation to 36 John Street, in the City’s South Green neighborhood. In an announcement first made to the firm’s staff in May, President Rohan A. Freeman, PE, LS identified the new office location for the growing firm and discussed the strategic objectives surrounding the decision to relocate to John Street to accommodate current and anticipated growth. Said Mr. Freeman, “We are proud of our firm’s commitment to the City of Hartford. Our desire and commitment to be an active participant in Hartford’s vitality (and that of the South Green neighborhood) has never been stronger. This decision enables us to accommodate the firm’s future growth during our next decades of practice in our Capitol City and to foster new community partnerships.”
The location of Freeman Companies’ new office is in one of the most active areas of the City's growth and is within a few blocks of Hartford Hospital, the State of Connecticut’s Department of Community and Economic Development; Capitol Region Council of Governments; Wadsworth Atheneum; Hartford City Hall; and Hartford Main Library.
36 John Street was designed by renowned Hartford architects Whiton & McMahon. Beginning its useful life as the Fire Department’s original Equipment Maintenance Shop in 1920, the facility served the Fire Department until its obsolescence in the 1980s when it was shuttered. In 1989, 36 John Street – and its neighbor Engine Company 1 at 197 Main Street – were both placed on the National Register of Historic Places “for their high levels of integrity of design, materials, setting and associated historic context with the Hartford Fire Department”. Prior to Freeman’s relocation, the building served or over a decade as the studio and residence of Linda Cheverton Wick and Walter Wick, creator of the popular iSpy “Can You See What I See?” book series. Freeman Companies’ alterations to the historic building will have a light touch, retaining the unique architectural characteristics of the distinguished Neo-Classical, stone-trimmed brick façade and spacious, open-plan interior. Smith Edwards McCoy Architects assisted Freeman Companies’ with the alterations. Building area totals 12,168 square feet and is able to accommodate up to sixty employees.
Freeman Companies’ fifth anniversary and corporate relocation also coincide with another strategic milestone for the firm: the establishment of the firm-endowed "Freeman Companies BRIDGE Endowed Engineering Scholarship” through the University of Connecticut Foundation, Inc. Fulfilling its commitments to the communities it serves, Freeman Companies’ Scholarship is intended for the use of full-time students interested in civil engineering from Connecticut’s urban cores. Said Rohan Freeman, President and UCONN Alumnus “Establishing this scholarship for deserving minority students is a way of “paying it forward” and sharing our success in communities that have always supported us. We celebrate UCONN, its excellent engineering programs, its commitment to diversity in student enrollment and innovative initiatives such as the BRIDGE program. We look forward to help shaping the next generations of Connecticut’s engineers for many years to come.”
