$9 million Norwalk baseball complex set for 2028, with new fields and flood-control work
Shaniece Harper
NORWALK — Norwalk’s $9 million project to build a new baseball complex at Broad River Park is expected to be finished by fall 2028, officials said.
The project will replace the current two baseball fields and will add a third; and includes additional amenities, such as lighting for one of the fields, restrooms, a concession area, playgrounds, pickleball courts and additional parking.
“This is a much-awaited project, and we are so excited to finally get it started,” Mayor Barbara Smyth said.
Jenn McMurrer, Smyth’s director of communications, said the project could take approximately 12 to 18 months to complete and construction will start between spring and summer 2027. She said officials still need to go out to bid for the project and choose a contractor.
McMurrer said the project is being paid for with a mix of state grants and city funds. She said the $9 million is a preliminary estimate and the total cost of the project could change depending on what kind of bids the city receives from potential contractors.
“Broad River Park and its amenities are in need of a renovation. It has always been a home to Norwalk little league and now Norwalk baseball,” McMurrer said.
She said the city had three options for the fields: all turf, grass outfields and an artificial turf infield, or natural grass and clay infields.
The City Council ultimately voted against the option of using artificial turf in June 2025 — after it received strong opposition from residents due to environmental concerns — and approved the natural grass and clay material design instead.
McMurrer said the park area also has a “major concern of flooding,” so the project includes making underground drainage improvements to address it.
“There is an underground holding system being installed as part of this project, as well as a new main drainage line,” McMurrer said. “These upgrades will tie into any drainage work completed in the future by the city. All the drainage infrastructure will be in place as a part of this project.”
“Norwalk residents have suffered from flooding in the neighborhoods surrounding Broad River Park,” Smyth said. “Getting this done quickly and addressing the flooding concerns is a priority, while also making significant improvements to park amenities for our families, young athletes and the entire community to enjoy.”
When asked about what type of impact the project could have on nearby residents, McMurrer said, “All the work is on the park site, so we do not foresee any disruption to neighbors.”
An underground I-95 tunnel? CT studies concepts for Bridgeport, Fairfield corridor
Brianna Gurciullo
As the state Department of Transportation conducts a study of how
to potentially make it easier and safer to travel along the Interstate 95 corridor in Bridgeport
and Fairfield, the consultant team is open to all ideas - big
and small.
During a public meeting Wednesday at Black Rock School in
Bridgeport, a team of consultants presented a host of concepts from
"transformational" ideas like moving portions of I-95 underground to
much smaller projects like installing bike lanes and pedestrian refuge islands
on roads off the highway.
"We really didn't want to leave any stone unturned when
we were developing our concepts," consultant JJ Samus said during the
presentation. "Beyond improving transportation, these ideas could really
reconnect communities and strengthen local street networks and potentially
create opportunities for economic development. But those improvements don't
always need to be transformational to actually solve a problem or make a
difference."
DOT started the study - known as a "planning and
environment linkages" analysis - in 2024. The agency also has studies of
I-95 in Greenwich,
Stamford
and eastern Connecticut underway.
About 120,000 to 130,000 vehicles travel on I-95 in
Fairfield and Bridgeport each day, according to the website for the
study of the corridor. Adding to the daily traffic in the area are vehicles
on Route 1, Route 130 and Fairfield Avenue.
Reports on the needs and deficiencies of the corridor have
already been completed. Among the issues identified were closely spaced
interchanges on I-95, short entrance and exit ramps, failing signs at the ends
of ramps and "substandard geometric and structural design," according
to the consultant team.
All those deficiencies contribute to backups, and most
crashes on the stretch are related to traffic congestion, the team said. Now,
the consultants are developing a "universe of concepts" to address
those problems.
The large-scale ideas include a tunnel for I-95, which would
theoretically be built south of where the highway is currently located in
Bridgeport. The land where the highway is located now would be turned into a
"local boulevard and complete streets corridor," according to a
conceptual drawing.
Another idea is to lower and cover sections of I-95 and
Route 8/25 where the highways intersect in Bridgeport. That concept also
includes relocating the New Haven Line where it crosses under I-95 and creating
green space.
Then there are concepts that aren't quite as grand, like
building "collector-distributor roadways" along I-95 or Route 8 that
separate through-traffic from cars entering and exiting the highway.
Another concept on the table is turning the left shoulders
on I-95 into part-time travel lanes, also known as flex lanes. During heavy
traffic, an electronic sign above the highway would notify drivers that they
can use the shoulder as a travel lane. DOT plans to install such a system on I-84 in Danbury.
Other concepts include adding a through-lane in each
direction on I-95, eliminating certain ramps along the highway and relocating
interchanges.
More than a dozen poster boards lined the gymnasium where
the public meeting was held Wednesday, and each included multiple concepts for
the I-95 mainline, specific interchanges, local intersections and pedestrian,
bicycle, bus and rail infrastructure.
The concepts will go through three levels of screening, said
Joe Rubino, another member of the consultant team.
"Level one is a fatal-flaw analysis," Rubino said.
"We're looking for really big-ticket items that would say something isn't
viable, and then it gets eliminated."
The other two levels of screening involve comparing the
concepts and looking at potential environmental impacts, he said.
A final report, which is expected to be completed next year,
will recommend short-term and long-term improvements for the corridor,
according to the study's website. If a potential project requires federal
funding or permitting, it will need to go through the federal environmental review process.
DOT will hold a virtual public meeting on the study on Wednesday, Oct. 21,
at noon. After that meeting, members of the public will have two weeks to
submit comments or questions about the concepts by filling out a form on
the study's website, emailing study manager Edward Sabourin at
Edward.Sabourin@ct.gov or calling 860-594-3293.
Avangrid invests in 40 substation projects across Maine, New York, and Connecticut
Avangrid is advancing work at more than 40 substations and
substation facilities across Maine, New York and Connecticut.
The projects include everything from major substation
rebuilds and equipment replacements to flood mitigation projects, automation
upgrades and capacity enhancements. These investments are helping strengthen
the electric system, improve service reliability and support growing energy
demand.
“Substations are the backbone of a reliable electric grid,” Avangrid CEO Jose
Antonio Miranda said. “Across our service territories, we are making strategic
investments to modernize critical infrastructure, strengthen resilience against
increasingly severe weather, improve operational flexibility, and ensure our
electric system is prepared to meet the needs of customers for decades to
come.”
In Connecticut, Avangrid subsidiary United Illuminating (UI)
advanced construction on flood protection improvements at the Singer Substation
in Bridgeport. It also achieved engineering milestones for flood mitigation
efforts at the Grand Avenue-Mill River substation in New Haven and Milvon
Substation in Milford. In addition, final closeout activities continued for the
Pequonnock Resiliency Project, which relocated and elevated critical
infrastructure to reduce coastal flood risk.
Also, UI began construction on the Old Town Substation
rebuild in Bridgeport, transformer replacement at Ansonia Substation and
reliability upgrades at Sackett Substation in North Haven.
Avangrid subsidiaries New York State Electric & Gas
(NYSEG) and Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E) have also made significant
progress modernizing critical infrastructure. NYSEG completed or advanced major
projects at the Fraser, Milo, Meyer, West Hill, Fourth Street, Cayuga Heights,
Cobble Hill, Canandaigua, and Aurora substations. RG&E advanced work at
Substation 43 in Rochester.
In Maine, Avangrid subsidiary Central Maine Power (CMP)
energized major upgrades at the Stickney’s Corner and Bonney Eagle substations.
Further, it completed the Rock Row 34-kV switchyard project, and advanced
battery system replacements and automation improvements at numerous substations
throughout the state.
As electrification, economic development and new
technologies continue to increase demands on the electric system, substations
will play an increasingly important role in delivering safe and reliable
power.
Avangrid owns and operates seven electric and natural gas
utilities, serving more than 3.4 million customers in New York and New England.
Avangrid also has nearly 100 energy generation facilities across the United
States and more than 11 gigawatts of installed capacity.
The 6 developments to watch across Connecticut
Sandra
Diamond Fox, Andreas Yilma,
Mark Zaretsky,
Alexander
Soule
Development news in Connecticut this week included two
former Cheshire schools put up for sale, a pair of developments proposed in
Southbury, and word that a master plan for the $1 billion redevelopment of
Stratford's former Army Engine Plant is expected to be revealed in December.
Cheshire
The former
Chapman and Darcey elementary schools in Cheshire helped to educate
and launch generations of Cheshire kids into the world, but soon the properties
will be put to new uses — and the day after they were listed for sale, agents
were already getting plenty of interest. Toby Brimberg, vice president of the
commercial/industrial and retail group for O,R&L Commercial real estate in
Branford, said he had already received "dozens" of feelers from
developers in the first two days the properties were listed. But any decisions
on what the former schools might become next are still a long way off, he said.
Fairfield
Fairfield Housing Corporation's Judd
Homestead, a 40-unit affordable apartment complex still under construction,
received more than 1,000 pre-applications from prospective tenants just over a
week after opening its application process, underscoring the demand for
affordable housing in Fairfield. Construction of the five-building, three-story
development at 980 High St. began in May and is expected to be completed in
January. The Fairfield Housing Corporation began accepting pre-applications
Sept. 28 and will accept them through Oct. 26.
Hamden
Developer John Ranciato Jr. understands that not
everyone in the neighborhoods along and near Old Coach Highway in Hamden likes
the idea of his proposed
150-unit Paradise Woods affordable housing complex, which was filed under
the state's 8-30g affordable housing statute. He met with about 30 neighbors in
the Hamden Elderly Services senior center in the Miller Memorial Library
recently to try to bridge the differences. Some neighbors made it clear that
they believed the proposed development on a forested 33.5-acre parcel off the
west side of Old Coach Highway would turn their neighborhood into something
different from the place they moved into, and they did not consider that to be
acceptable. But people generally listened to one another and acted in a civil
manner.
Southbury
If a pair of Southbury
developments come to be, the town could see dozens of newly built houses and
townhouses. Both proposals were scheduled for an Oct. 14 hearing before the
Zoning Commission. At 295 Old Woodbury Road, developer Scott Volpe’s
Connecticut Residential would build 18 multifamily townhouses, with a
commission agenda not specifying how many units. Under Charles Spath Jr., Burr
Farm Properties is planning a cluster subdivision with 18 homes on wooded land
fronting Kettletown Road, just over a mile north of Kettletown State Park and
near the Willow Creek Estates development where 20 houses are included in a
third phase of construction.
Stratford
Developers planning a $1
billion redevelopment of Stratford's former Army Engine Plant expect to
submit a master plan by December after unveiling the first comprehensive vision
for transforming the 77-acre waterfront property into a mixed-use district with
housing, parks, shops and public gathering spaces. Point Stratford Renewal presented
the concept during a Sept. 28 joint meeting of the Town Council, Traffic
Authority, the Planning and Zoning Commissions and the Inland Wetlands and
Watercourses Commission for the brownfield at 550 Main St. The project
team said it expects to spend the coming months refining the plan through
additional public input before filing its development proposal.
Wilton
The applicants behind a controversial plan for a 280-unit senior
living community on the site of a former convent on Belden Hill Road
in Wilton have withdrawn their proposal and instead plan to restart the process
by seeking a pre-application review. In a letter to the Planning & Zoning
Commission, attorney Lisa Feinberg said the applicants, Hines SL Wilton
Associates LP and SSND Real Estate Trust, "believe that slowing the
process down and having an opportunity to hear from the commission is
important. This commission is not comprised of the same members who provided
feedback in 2025."