As city, state and federal transportation planners assess the need for rebuilding Interstates I-91 and I-84 through Hartford, and with public consensus overwhelmingly in support of repairing the mistakes both expressways imposed on the capital city’s physical and cultural fabric over the last half-century, Hartford has a unique opportunity to assign new meaning to the city’s identity through public infrastructure by celebrating prominently two of its most important local heroes: the prolific 19^th century park planner Frederick Law Olmsted, and the late 20^th century Hollywood screen legend Katharine Houghton Hepburn.

Creative giants in their respective eras, both hailed from Hartford, yet conspicuously no appropriately scaled local public memorials celebrate their contributions to national culture.