West Hartford UConn campus developer plans ‘neighborhood village,’ including nearly 500 apartments

Michael Puffer

The buyers of the former University of Connecticut branch campus in West Hartford are planning a mixed-use, “neighborhood village”  including 492 apartments on the 57-acre property.

The campus property sits on the northern side of Asylum Avenue, divided by Trout Brook Drive.

A design concept recently submitted by developer West Hartford 1 to West Hartford’s Design Review Advisory Committee places eight structures on 33.5 acres to the west of Trout Brook Drive, where the academic buildings currently sit. 

These buildings  include a grocery, parking garage, medical office building, spa and four, three-story buildings mixing 100 apartments with first-floor retail space.

The 23.8 acres on the eastern side of Trout Brook Drive currently host parking lots and sports fields. Here, the developer would place five, five-story residential buildings with a total of 392 apartments. The proposal would preserve existing ballfields for public use, along with allowing public access to parking areas and walking trails.

West Hartford 1’s development team includes Newman Architects, BL Companies, Garden Homes, Alter & Pearson LLC and Minno & Wasko Architects and Planners. This team is hashing through design concepts with the Design Review Advisory Committee before making a formal submission.

Once that comes, the DRAC will make a referral and recommendation to the Town Council, which acts as the town’s zoning authority. The Town Plan and Zoning Commission would also make a recommendation. The plan would also need to pass a wetlands review.

West Hartford 1 LLC is the principal of the limited liability companies that paid $2.75 million for the properties at 1700 and 1800 Asylum Ave. in late 2021.  West Hartford 1 has been quiet about its backers, but it shares a West Hartford office with Dominion Realty Group. 

Excitement grows in Meriden as library project nears completion

Michael Gagne

MERIDEN — Officials say the project to renovate and expand the Meriden Public Library now is around 90% complete.

Newly constructed semi-circles carve out the areas that will become the library’s main circulation desk and its children’s desk. Other elements are also in place including a large multipurpose room, as well as a new multimedia control room and green room, which are intentionally located next to the library’s teen section. 

During a walkthrough of the Miller Street building on Monday afternoon, the sounds of construction were still audible and some debris was still present, as Montagno Construction crews continued on the $13 million project. Construction began in early 2022. 

Officials eyed April 10 as the date for Montagno to turn the building back over to city officials. Upon turnover, other work remains, including the installation of Internet and telecommunications, along with other electrical wiring and hookups, by city crews, as well as the installation of shelving and furniture. Meanwhile, the outdoor area, including the building’s courtyard will receive a makeover from city Parks and Recreation crews.

Thomas Welsh, chairman of the Library Building Committee, beamed with excitement as he showed a Record-Journal reporter and photographer along the expanded children’s center, the new multipurpose space, and new atrium. Glass for new skylights in some of those areas awaited installation. 

Officials have marked July 1 as the date for the library’s grand reopening. Meanwhile, with the project underway, the library has operated out of a location in the Meriden Mall, the former Old Navy store. Some services have been hosted by city school libraries and the Meriden Historical Society. 

Welsh, as he walked through what he called the “grand atrium” in the Miller Street building, explained that libraries are changing. 

“Libraries are now becoming community centers,” Welsh said. “It’s more than just books. Now it’s distribution of content and the creating of content, creativity. And, putting the two together.”

The construction of the atrium allows for areas of the library building, like the multipurpose room, to continue to be used after hours — past the time when library services have closed down on a particular day. 

“The neatest part of this is, this building will no longer close when the library closes,” Welsh said. 

All of the building’s meeting rooms will be equipped with equipment, including monitors and cameras, allowing for hybrid use. 

The new digital media greenroom and control room will be equipped through a recently acquired $220,000 grant, Welsh explained. 

However, challenges have remained, particularly with the contractor responsible for building a new air handling unit for the building’s addition. It has been delayed, even though the unit was ordered a year ago, Welsh said. 

“So all of the utilities, all of the connections are here. What is going to happen is we may end up taking the building, with temporary heating units,” Welsh said. Those will be in place for a few months until the rooftop unit arrives and is installed. 

Despite the challenges, Welsh sounded elated about the library’s near completion and the new amenities — in particular the digital media studio. 

“That will allow food, the creation of digital content, either concerts, webinars — any kind of media,” Welsh said. 

“That’s just a home run,” he said. “We will not only be able to create content locally, we will be able to teach it.” 

Welsh envisioned a partnership between the library and the Meriden Public Schools to allow students and adults to learn how to utilize that technology for their own content creation. 

“That’s what I’m excited about — creating digital content. And teaching people how to do it,” Welsh said. 

Norwich Public Utilities to receive $1.6 million for water, sewer projects

Claire Bessette

Norwich ― Norwich Public Utilities will receive $1.6 million in federal grants to support two projects utility officials called critical projects, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., announced Monday during a visit to NPU headquarters.

The funding is part of the 2023 fiscal year federal budget signed into law in December, Blumenthal said, addressing a group of NPU employees. NPU will receive $800,000 through the Environmental Protection Agency for the Poquetanuck Cove Crossing Water Interconnection to connect with the Groton water system, and a second $800,000 to reline sewer mains in the Greeneville section of Norwich.

Blumenthal and fellow U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., included the requests as part of their Congressionally Directed Spending requests.

The Poquetanuck Cove water line will connect the 1,220-foot gap between the Groton and Norwich water systems at the Preston/Ledyard border and is a joint project between Groton Utilities and NPU. The project provides an additional interconnection between the region’s two largest municipal water suppliers for the movement of water during emergency situations, NPU officials said in a news release issued following the funding announcement.

The project will strengthen the water supply for Groton, Ledyard, Norwich, Montville, Waterford, New London, East Lyme, Lisbon, Franklin, and Sprague, NPU said.

It also will provide an invaluable, second access point if the Thames River crossing became compromised for any reason, the news release said.

The NPU sewer main lining is part of NPU’s ongoing effort to eliminate combined sewer, industrial waste and rainwater pipes that dump untreated sewage into Norwich Harbor and the Thames River during heavy rainstorms. The Greeneville section of Norwich contains three of the 11 combined sewer overflows (CSO) in the Norwich system.

During heavy rain events, all three of the Greeneville CSOs discharge directly to the Shetucket River that converges with the Thames River in Norwich Harbor.

The liner will install a new pipe within the existing pipe, removing rainwater and groundwater from the pipe network and provide more sewage capacity in the pipe network, NPU officials said in the news release.

Greeneville has roughly 21,000 feet of sewer pipes, installed between 1886 and 1950, in desperate need of replacement or rehabilitation, NPU officials said.

NPU anticipates a reduction of six million gallons of combined discharge to the Shetucket River annually with the completion of the Greeneville sewer relining projects.

Construction on both projects is expected to begin before Memorial Day with work likely completed before the end of 2023.

“This federal investment in our communities’ infrastructure is a significant step to protect our waterways,” Blumenthal said in the news release. “I am thrilled to join Norwich Public Utilities to celebrate this funding that is addressing critical needs in Norwich.”

NPU General Manager Chris LaRose said he was grateful to the two Connecticut senators for helping to secure the funding.

“These projects will improve public safety and water quality in our region, while modernizing and upgrading our infrastructure,” LaRose said in the news release. “On behalf of our employees and the residents of Norwich, we thank Senator Blumenthal for his ongoing support of NPU.”