Beginning next month, work will begin to remove the remains of the former Waterbury Button factory, moving one step closer to remediating the brownfield site at 835 South Main St. that was destroyed in a fire last year. The Board of Aldermen on Monday unanimously approved a contract with Manafort Bros. for $4.7 million to remove the debris. This includes the approval of a transfer from the Capital Improvement Fund for $1.3 million to cover a shortfall in the contract with the cost of the project increasing after the fire at the abandoned site. Officials had estimated the cost of the project at $3.6 million before the fire occurred on May 27, 2023. Hyde said the project is funded from $3.1 million from the state Department of Economic and Community Development, roughly $210,000 from the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments and $1.3 million from the city’s Capital Improvement Fund.
