Guided by an excavation worker, Mayor Kevin Scarpati took the first cut out of the city’s biggest eyesore Wednesday at 116 Cook Ave. Scarpati took out the front entry-way in the 77,000-square foot building that blighted the lower Cook Avenue neighborhood. Its demolition will yield two cleared brownfields and hopes for more economic or community development. In January, the Meriden City Council voted to include $2.6 million in its capital improvement budget to demolish the building. That spending will be offset by a $2 million state grant. The completion of this project will result in about a dozen properties, including 116 Cook Ave., being removed from the city’s flood plain. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection oversees the permitting, design review, and oversight of the flood control project.
https://www.ctinsider.com/recordjournal/article/meriden-vacant-building-116-cook-demolition-20228891.php