Connecticut Trolley Museum celebrates $750,000 in federal funding for renovations
August 5, 2025 | In the PressTuesday was a banner day for the historic Connecticut Trolley Museum in East Windsor, which received $750,000 in federal funding to help complete a series of renovations.
The ongoing project aims to make the museum on North Road a living history destination.
U.S. Rep. John Larson announced the funding during a ceremony at the museum in which he called the site a “cultural treasure” that preserves a key part of the region’s transit legacy.
“I have had the privilege of seeing up close the work the Trolley Museum team puts into their collections and public events,” Larson said. “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.”
Connecticut Trolley Museum Board of Directors President Andrew Borst called it the largest capital investment that the museum has received in many years. He thanked Larson for his help.
“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,” Borst said. “Our next big project is to convert the existing theatre in our visitor center into a multi-purpose meeting hall and activity center.”
According to Borst, a considerable amount of funding has already been raised for the project. He hopes work begins on the project’s first phase by the end of this year.
Connecticut Trolley Museum Executive Director Gina Maria Alimberti added that the average age of the museum’s trolleys 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,” Alimberti said.
Larson secured the funding through the Congressionally directed Community Project Funding process.
The money is addressing site drainage issues, creating improved parking for visitors, supporting renovations to the visitors’ center and maintenance work on the railway lines and trolley car storage barn.
The renovations are bringing the museum closer to that goal of becoming a living history destination.
The museum was founded in 1940 and is the nation’s oldest incorporated trolley museum. The site covers more than 50 acres of land, including the 17-acre main campus in East Windsor and 1.5-mile-long line.
The oldest trolley at the museum is 123 years old. The museum’s collection includes over 50 trolley cars and a range of other vintage artifacts from the 19th Century to the present.
