Larson Announces $750,000 for Connecticut Trolley Museum at Dedication Ceremony

"The Connecticut Trolley Museum is a cultural treasure that preserves a key part of our region’s transit legacy,” said Larson. “I have had the privilege of seeing up close the work the Trolley Museum team puts into their collections and public events. It is great to see the federal funding I put forward in Congress support renovations that move the Trolley Museum one step closer to becoming a regional living history destination. I look forward to continuing to work with the museum and its legion of supporters to build on this progress and thrive in the future.” 

“It’s meaningful to see the results of this hard-earned investment delivering real benefits for the people of Connecticut. The Trolly Museum is better suited to serve its visitors with this work, supporting accessibility and ease. I’m grateful to Congressman Larson’s hard work in securing this funding,” said State Senator Saud Anwar.

“Public-private partnerships are instrumental in building success for organizations like the CT Trolley Musuem.  Today we say significant investment in that community gem that would not have been possible without the advocacy of Congressman Larson. One of many examples we can all point to of John delivering federal funds to our communities,” said East Windsor First Selectman Jason Bowsza.

“This is the largest capital improvement that we have completed in many years,” said Connecticut Trolley Museum Board of Directors President Andrew Borst. “Our thanks go to Congressman Larson for his assistance. This work complements the other work that we have been doing to upgrade our facilities, maintain our fleet of historic trolleys, make improvements to our rail line and beautify our grounds. Our next big project is to convert the existing theater in our visitor center into a multi-purpose meeting hall and activity center. We have already raised a considerable amount of funding for this project, and we hope to start work on the first phase of this project by year's end.”   

The museum’s next major initiative is a capital campaign to transform the existing theater in the visitor center into a multi-purpose space to support a wider range of community programs and events. Connecticut Trolley Museum Executive Director Gina Maria Alimberti said, “The average age of the trolleys in our operating fleet is 106 years old. The greatest thing we provide to our visitors is the opportunity to become time travelers—riding original trolley cars just like their grandparents, great-grandparents, and even great-great-grandparents did.” 

With the federal funding Rep. Larson secured through the Congressionally directed Community Project Funding process, the Connecticut Trolley Museum has addressed site drainage issues, improved parking and accessibility for visitors, supported renovations to the visitor center, and maintenance work on railway lines and the trolley car storage barn. These renovations move the museum one step closer to its goal of becoming a living history destination. 

Founded in 1940, the Connecticut Trolley museum is the nation's oldest incorporated trolley museum. The museum owns over 50 acres of land in North Central Connecticut, including a 17-acre main campus in East Windsor and a 1.5-mile-long line. The average age of the trolleys in the operating fleet is 106 years old, with the oldest being 123 years old. The museum collection includes more than 50 trolley cars and many other vintage artifacts from the 19th century to the present.