MERIDEN — The sight of an 82-foot-high abandoned power plant building atop Cathole Mountain will soon be a memory. In recent weeks, a demolition crew has been dismantling the abandoned natural gas-fired generating plant. Workers removed a storage tank intended for fuel and another for water and will demolish the larger building last. A smaller, 15,000 square-foot building was also removed. “We are very satisfied with how the demolition is progressing. NRG has been keeping us informed,” City Manager Lawrence J. Kendzior said. “We look forward to a timely completion of their remaining obligations to the city.” The city and NRG negotiated a settlement last year, which included demolishing the abandoned power plant on South Mountain Road. In addition, NRG agreed to pay the city $500,000 in two installments before June 30. NRG also agreed to an annual tax payment of $71,886 and the city will keep more than $700,000 in performance bonds.
After starting the plant, NRG ran into some financial troubles, which halted the project. Later the energy giant learned no new power generation would be needed in the state before 2022. In April 2012, NRG notified city officials it would be abandoning the project after being stalled for close to a decade. The buildings have been considered an eyesore by many. Still, officials note that the city has been paid several millions of dollars in property taxes, so the project was not a total loss for Meriden. Public Works Director Robert Bass was among a small group of city officials to visit to the site on Monday. “Both of the two large storage tanks had been disassembled and were laying on the ground and a crew was cutting those into pieces so they could transport them for scrap value,” Bass said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
WALLINGFORD—After nearly four hours of deliberation, the Town Council came to agreement Tuesday on a revised tax break requested by hotel developer Robert Winston, who is looking to build a 139-room Hilton Garden Inn on Route 68. Republican Town Councilor Craig Fishbein was the only councilor to vote against the agreement, which was a compromise between Winston and recommendations last week from the town’s administration. Before the agreement is official, the Law Department must first put together a legal document that must be approved by the Town Council. Also, the council stipulated that the project be finished within 30 months of April 1, and that Winston remain the managing partner of CT Wallingford LLC — the company that owns the 1181 Barnes Road property. After stating that he hoped the work by the Law Department wouldn’t tie up the deal, Winston said, “I can rely on the fact that this will be done and I will start tomorrow with the idea I have a deal.” “What I don’t want to see happen is this whole thing gets derailed over something ridiculous,” Democratic Town Councilor John Sullivan said of work by the Law Department. “I want to make sure we’re being honest with this business man in front of us.”CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
The conceptual drawing represents the most “aggressive” remediation, Carbone said, and would include 149 parking spots. However, both Carbone and Wilson said they would much rather have additional greenspace instead of using the majority of the lot for parking. Carbone said she would like to keep half of the lot as greenspace, with as little as 60 parking spots. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
City eyesore to be razed
WATERBURY — Residents and commuters tired of seeing a boarded-up building when they leave Interstate 84 at Exit 21 will soon enjoy a more pleasing entrance to the Brass City — even if it's mostly empty space. At 10 a.m. today, members of the Waterbury delegation in Hartford, Mayor Neil M. O'Leary and Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker will hold a ceremonial groundbreaking to kick off the 25,000-square-foot building's demolition. Razing the building not only removes a blighted eye sore, but could pave the way for enhancements on the Waterbury Branch of Metro-North Railroad that would increase ridership, city officials say.
The building, at 333 Meadow St., sits in front of the Waterbury Train Station and blocks the parking lot from Meadow Street. Last week, asbestos abatement was finished. On Monday, excavators finished removing the concrete subsurface parking garage. Starting today, crews will begin razing the main building. It will be demolished using a machine equipped with a claw. By the end of May, the building will be removed and the ground will be leveled. The concrete will be recycled on-site as fill, and the steel frame of the building will be recycled off-site. By fall, the site will be redeveloped. The parking lot will be expanded, a bus pickup and drop-off zone will be built along Meadow Street, and there will be lighting and landscaping improvements. A waiting room with restrooms and other amenities will be built in the south end of the Republican-American building. The first proposal to convert the site into a transportation center was in 2000. The Naugatuck Valley Development Corporation conducted a feasibility study into building an intermodal transportation center that would serve local and intercity buses, taxis, limos and rail service under one roof. In 2008, city officials resurrected the idea of turning the site at 333 Meadow St. into a multimillion dollar intermodal transportation center, but the idea was scrapped after a consultant found that it was cost prohibitive and would make the city's bus service less efficient. The building at 333 Meadow St. opened in 1973. A developer, Meadow Associates, built it for Southern New England Telephone Co.'s 411 call center and customer service station. SNET moved in as the sole tenant as soon as the building was finished.