Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1482136
HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | October 24, 2022 13 Torrington Mayor Elinor Carbone, whose administration assembled $2.7 million for cleanup of the former Torrington Manufacturing Co. site beside the Naugatuck River, stands in front of the 60-unit, mixed-use apartment development that was built on the cleaned land. HBJ PHOTO | MICHAEL PUFFER Recapturing Waterways Once industrial wastelands, CT's riverfronts increasingly seen as major economic development opportunities By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com A s a child growing up in Torrington in the 1960s, Elinor Carbone's mother would warn her not to play in the Naugatuck River because of the waste pumped into it by area factories. "And she would know when we were in the river, because our white sneakers would come back orange or purple or whatever shade of contaminant was being dumped," Carbone recalled. Now Torrington's mayor, Carbone is responsible for charting a new course for a city where large factories have long since shuttered, taking with them many jobs, and leaving behind enormous crumbling build- ings and polluted soils requiring expensive cleanups. Carbone was back near the banks of the Naugatuck River on Oct. 6, this time in the company of Gov. Ned Lamont and other dignitaries, celebrating the opening of a 60-unit apartment building on a riverside site that hosted the Torrington Manufac- turing Co. for more than a century. "It certainly meant a lot for me to now have this (new apartment devel- opment), which is almost exactly in the footprint of a former industry that existed here, with this beautiful view of the river," Carbone said. "There is a bald eagle now flying in this patch of the river. Heron and geese, … I see the restoration and reclamation coming to fruition." Once used as open sewers for manufacturing spoils and human waste, Connecticut's long-abused rivers have recovered much of their past allure following stricter environ- mental laws passed in the 1960s and 1970s, accompanied by the retreat of large-scale manufacturing from riverbanks. As rivers have recovered, efforts to capitalize on their natural draw have also picked up steam through new recreational parks, trails and commercial development. Last year Riverfront Recapture announced plans to transform 60 acres along the Hartford-Windsor line into parkland, with docks and kayak launches, along with 10 acres for complimentary commercial development. Planning efforts are still underway, but the 40-year-old, Hartford-based nonprofit is eyeing multifamily housing and a restaurant, maybe a brew pub. In April, Goodwin University was awarded a $2 million state grant to help pay for construction of a 32-slip marina on the Connecticut River, part of a broader plan to spark new housing and commercial develop- ment around the riverside campus in East Hartford. Goodwin officials hope to see an approximately 150-room hotel developed just above the marina, along with student housing. The city of Middletown, in July, unveiled an ambitious plan to trans- form 220 acres of dormant industrial land along the Connecticut River into attractive and educational parks, community spaces, restaurants, retail and multifamily housing. In September, a newly-formed state board tentatively approved a $12 million grant to further that vision. In early October, Middletown picked Spectra Construction & Devel- opment to redevelop three downtown parking lots. Spectra's plans call for a manicured public plaza over a 584-space parking garage, flanked by 19 townhouses, buildings with 258 apartment units and 38,000 square feet of retail space. Current plans call for the even- tual construction of a pedestrian bridge from the plaza over Route 9, into nearby Harbor Park on the river's edge. Decades in the making Connecticut cities and towns have advanced efforts to rebuild riverside properties for decades. And during that time rivers have become increasingly more attrac- tive as an amenity to leverage investment, said Donald Poland, managing director and senior vice president of urban planning at East Hartford real estate advisory firm Goman+York. "Historically, prior to the rule changes in the 1970s, including the Clean Water Act, the asset of the river was a means of waste disposal," Poland said. "Therefore, the river wasn't attractive. It's not a place you wanted to spend time. After the rule changes and the cleaning up of the rivers, they've changed as an asset. They are actually these beautiful, tranquil, picturesque environments that have an aesthetic and recre- ational value that attracts us to them." P lains, trains, buses and waterways are all used as transportation modes, but they are also increasingly seen and being leveraged as economic development tools. The state has invested billions of dollars over the years in its rail and bus lines and airports and waterways, hoping to spur economic development. Already there are many development projects happening around those various transportation modes. Even more investment is expected in the years ahead with the influx of federal dollars from President Biden's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Hartford Business Journal in October and November will publish a series of stories taking a deep look into how transportation hubs are being used for economic develop- ment, and what challenges and untapped opportunities lie ahead. In this week's issue we focus on the increasing use of waterways as economic development engines. We hope you enjoy the series. Feel free to reach out with story ideas and feedback. Greg Bordonaro Editor Hartford Business Journal gbordonaro@hartfordbusiness.com Many advocates of riverside development decry highways that run along riverbanks, cutting the resource off from residents. Route 91 in Hartford and Route 9 in Middletown are often cited as culprits. Poland notes that, at least in Hartford's case, the city "turned its back" on the river a long time before the interstate was built in the late 1950s. Hartford's declining port trade "collapsed" in the 1840s with the arrival of trains, Poland said. The river was cut off from the city by a flood-control system of dikes in the 1940s. Getting on the river The nonprofit Riverfront Recap- ture Inc. launched in 1981 with backing from corporate Hartford and a mission to reunite the city with its river. The hope was to promote it as a resource for both the Capital city and neighboring East Hartford. Today, the organization maintains three parks on the west bank of the river, one on the east, and 11.6