DERBY - Standing outside the historic Sterling Opera House, Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn-3) today joined Mayor Marc Garofalo to announce nearly $2 million in federal funding for Derby. DeLauro secured $145,500 towards the restoration of the Opera House and $1.5 million for improvements to exits 16-18 of Route 8 in Derby and Ansonia. The funding, which will promote economic development for the Valley, was part of Fiscal Year 2005 appropriations that passed Congress in November.

“Renovating a critical piece of this city’s heritage and improving our transportation infrastructure will help preserve Derby’s past and protect its future,” said DeLauro. “These improvements will not only contribute to the ongoing revitalization of downtown Derby, they will stimulate economic growth for Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Oxford, Seymour, and Shelton.”

The Sterling Opera House, which has graced the Derby green for over three centuries, was the first structure in Connecticut to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Opera House has hosted such luminaries as John Philip Sousa, Harry Houdini and George Burns. Only a decade-and-a-half after women were given the right to vote in this country, Amelia Earhart addressed the local Women’s Club there in 1936. It also served as Derby’s City Hall and Police Station.

Restoration of the Opera House will provide the city with much needed municipal office space and the Lower Naugatuck Valley with a civic center for the region - a venue for the performing arts, lectures, debates, city meetings, civic conferences and business gatherings.

“Downtown revival requires a multifaceted approach,” said DeLauro. “With the increasing expansion of population outward into the Valley from Fairfield County, including so many commuters to New York, the need to reduce local congestion and improve access onto and off of Route 8 has never been more pronounced. It will also improve the flow of traffic in downtown Derby.”

Route 8 was designed to carry approximately 35,000 cars per day through the Naugatuck Valley. Today it carries upwards of 50,000 cars daily on this stretch of highway. The funding secured by DeLauro will go toward improvements on exits 16 through 18 of Route 8 in Ansonia and Derby, the extension of Water Street from Main Street to Pershing Drive and other improvements.