The City Council has approved contracts to begin the design process for renovating City Hall, something council members said was long overdue. The contracts are for $175,770 to D’Amato + Downs Joint Venture to be the construction manager and for $760,750 to Quisenberry Arcari Malik for architectural engineering services. It’s important to improve the appearance […]
Across Connecticut, Vasaturo’s story is retold thousands of times in automotive garages, machine tool factories and scores of other trades where the path to good-paying jobs is not college but the “earn as you learn” apprenticeship track that was launched in 1937, when the nation was in the grips of the Great Recession. A $3.5 […]
The first phase of the $26 million Park and Main mixed-use development — 39 mixed-income studio, one- and two-bedroom rentals — is expected to begin leasing in April. A second phase of 87 apartments on the northern side of the intersection is scheduled to break ground next month. Park and Main is far more modest […]
The tolls would have made it more costly for out-of-state drivers than in-state ones to use our roads, and it would have meant that each and every driver would at least think about the cost before heading out on the interstate. It also would have caused people to seriously think about eco- and urban-friendly public […]
City officials on Friday awarded a Massachusetts company a $1 million contract to demolish eight buildings of the former Anaconda-American Brass site on Freight Street. Costello Dismantiling Co. has six months to clear eight buildings on 10.5 acres at 130 Freight St., according to its contract with the Waterbury Development Corp. Eight companies bid on […]
Biden met with lawmakers from both parties at the White House to discuss infrastructure on Thursday, even as the Senate is holding impeachment proceedings against former President Donald Trump where partisan divisions are on full display. “I’ve been around long enough,” Biden said, “that infrastructure wasn’t a Republican or a Democratic issue.” “The American people […]
Requests for proposals for the project are being accepted through March 9, and city officials hope to have the buildings razed by spring, with the majority of the costs being shouldered by the state. The site is the former home of Thames River Apartments, a 124-unit federally subsidized housing complex for low-income families. For years […]
The state Department of Consumer Protection imposes a so-called “hiring ratio” on contracting companies in electrical, plumbing and metal-working trades. The rule is a bit technical but it essentially requires contractors to have a certain number of licensed journeymen on staff for each apprentice they hire. State Sen. Julie Kushner (D-Danbury) chairs the General Assembly’s […]
The two-year state budget Lamont proposed Wednesday includes a new highway mileage fee on trucks and includes Connecticut in a regional initiative to control greenhouse gases by changing transportation policy — a program that also would boost gasoline taxes. For years Connecticut has relied chiefly on fuel tax receipts to support the Special Transportation Fund, […]
The state’s special transportation fund is facing a deficit of more than $60 million in the current fiscal year, and could face larger deficits in the future if moves are not made to shore up the fund. Connecticut has joined a regional climate initiative with nearby states, but Lamont’s chief spokesman says that does not […]
At the third Project Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting in September, committee members were asked a series of questions about needs for the I-84 corridor in greater Danbury. The exercise provided the Project team with local insights and input towards the Project’s Purpose. Primer Multimodal planning considers many types of transportation including cars, buses, trains, bicycles, […]
Gov. Ned Lamont will propose a $46 billion, two-year budget Wednesday that relies heavily on federal aid and state reserves to close a major deficit without tax hikes and bolsters funds for cities and towns. The package would channel more than $400 million in emergency federal relief to low-performing school districts, according to several sources […]
The town of Ledyard has ordered DRVN Enterprises to remove road salt that the company was storing in a building at 20 Lorenz Industrial Parkway, a site within 900 feet of the Ledyard Reservoir, Ledyard Mayor Fred Allyn III said. Allyn said DRVN Enterprises President Steve Farrelly was very understanding and mobilized trucks to move […]
For the past several years, a great deal of debate has taken place when the state legislature introduced bills proposing electronic tolls on various major highways in Connecticut. The new highway bridge, ultimately named the Gold Star Memorial Bridge, opened to traffic in November 1943 and the established tolls for using this bridge included: 15 […]
By redefining “employees” and “employers” in revisions to the National Labor Relations Act, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act grants benefits to workers previously classified as independent contractors. Additionally, the way in which unions and employers collectively bargain and agree could be altered in states where unions have little to no say in the […]
Gov. Ned Lamont is expected to propose a lean budget Wednesday that averts tax hikes while closing a major deficit and positions Connecticut’s economy to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Analysts say state finances, unless adjusted, will run about $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion in the red, both in the fiscal year that begins July […]
The owners of Ryders Landing want to put a new coffee shop on Main Street as the first phase of a development that could ultimately include retail and office space, a restaurant and a 105-room riverfront hotel. The Sbriglios own five properties totaling roughly 5.5 acres off Main Street immediately south of the Ryders Landing […]
The $20 million project will bring another 52 mixed-income apartments to the mile-long stretch between the Elmwood and Flatbush CTfastrak stations. The “workforce” housing is expected to be ready for occupancy in May, 2022. Trout Brook Realty Advisors, the development arm of the West Hartford Housing Authority, planned both projects and sees a dual purpose. […]
By measures of population alone, the U.S. Census Bureau reported the city went from 117,083 residents in 2000 to 129,638 in 2019. Stamford is the third largest city in the state, only 618 behind New Haven, and the city’s Department of Economic Development expected to surpass that figure in 2020. That question guided Catalyst for […]
The state Department of Transportation has been laying the groundwork for a comprehensive study ever since it made the startling announcement at the end of 2019 that the state would put a hold on replacing the viaduct and include it in a larger regional transportation plan. A broader array of transportation options are seen as […]
Speaking on Wednesday, Feb. 3, on Connecticut Public Radio’s Where We Live, Lamont said, at this point, there might not be a lot he can do to stop a proposed natural gas plant in Killingly. The proposed 650 megawatt plant would provide enough power for about 500,000 homes annually. But the proposal has drawn the […]
Born in Boston, Walsh joined Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 223 in 1988 and worked his way up through the ranks to lead both Local 223 and the Boston Building Trades Unions before being elected mayor in 2013. Walsh also served in the Massachusetts legislature. Labor organizations hailed Walsh’s nomination as a win […]
Industry and elected leaders praised Pete Buttigieg’s confirmation as Transportation Secretary after his nomination passed the U.S. Senate 86-13 on Tuesday. Buttigieg’s confirmation could be a boon for investment in the nation’s infrastructure, which has been called for on a bipartisan basis for many years, according to experts. During his nomination hearing before the U.S. […]
The latest draft of Connecticut’s Integrated Resources Plan — a semi-annual assessment of the state’s electric supply needs and possible sources of energy supply — is being touted by the department as the first to identify sources of supply to meet the state’s goal of zero-carbon electric generation by 2040. Already, 65 percent of the […]
Construction of a $20 million mixed-use retail/residential project on West Hartford’s New Park Avenue is set to begin this month, with developers projecting a completion date of May, 2022. Trout Brook Realty Advisors, the nonprofit development arm of the West Hartford Housing Authority, is set to break ground on the transit-oriented development project located on […]
The number of those represented by unions, including those under project labor agreements, was about 1.1 million in 2019 (13.6% of total workers) but decreased to just over 1 million in 2020. Nonunion median weekly wages in 2019 were $868, almost 29% less than than the average union and union-affiliated wage but increased to $920 […]
Major Wall Street firms and publicly traded construction companies are eagerly awaiting President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better infrastructure plan, which he said he will detail in his first State of the Union address scheduled for Feb. 23. While the plan is forthcoming, the president pegged it at as much as $2 trillion in the […]
Renovation work on the Derby-Shelton Bridge is moving forward, as the state has tapped a contractor for the project which should begin by April 1. The $6.3 million contract was awarded to Mohawk Northeast, Inc. Construction. The bid was almost $1.5 million below its pre-bid estimate on the work, completion of which should be December […]
For the last three years, another high-speed rail concept has been quietly germinating, one that would go inland through Connecticut instead of along the shoreline. Called North Atlantic Rail, the plan originated at University of Pennsylvania planning studios directed by highly regarded planner Robert Yaro, former president of the Regional Plan Association and advised by, […]
The City Council on Monday unanimously approved funding for the construction of a $30 million community recreation center, an idea talked about for decades. The new 62,000-square-foot facility would be built on 6.8 acres at Fort Trumbull, a site that has illicited some push back from residents who have argued the city is using prime […]
A cadre of Westwood Road residents claim the noise, dust and fumes generated by one of the city’s largest taxpayers is making their lives unlivable. And residents of the city’s Westwood Road neighborhoods also say they believe that Burns Construction is violating city zoning laws by crushing rock on the company’s Woodlot site. The association […]
The town plans to present the design for the $3.6 million fourth phase of its downtown revitalization project for approval at an upcoming special town meeting. Brookfield has completed two of five phases of the Four Corners streetscape project, and will start construction on its third phase this summer. Now, at 7 p.m Tuesday in […]
With new information in hand that depicts a project that is not only feasible but financially sustainable, the City Council on Monday is poised for a vote on the $30 million cost to build the center with 265 parking spaces at Fort Trumbull. The analysis by Brailsford & Dunlavey, however, shows Fort Trumbull, which is […]
The City Council has approved an agreement with New Colony Development Corp. that will bring the Sessions Building one step closer to being cleaned up and redeveloped into apartments. New Colony will act as a brownfield land bank to clean up the industrial property at 273 Riverside Ave. and eventually transfer it to a public-private […]
Work to complete a $29 million reconstruction of the Interstate 95 Exit 33 interchange near the Milford border is ramping up — literally and figuratively. The new ramps will correct a quirk in the state’s highway history dating back to the days when toll plazas dotted I-95 and the Merritt Parkway. Removing the toll plazas […]
The city has agreed to accept $11,500 from the Connecticut Department of Transportation to condemn a small vacant lot in the West End, as part of the planned major realignment of the Routes 72 and 69 intersection. The project has been in the works for years. It will involve widening Route 72, shifting it to […]
“The EOs also show how President Biden will incorporate his priorities into future rulemakings by asking agencies to ‘identify ways the regulatory process can promote public health and safety, economic growth, social welfare, racial justice, environmental stewardship, human dignity, equity and the interests of future generations.’” For transportation projects, “this could mean an increased focus […]
The 30,000 men and women of the Connecticut State Building Trades unions, were shocked and gravely disappointed by the Gov. Ned Lamont’s quotes, “I don’t want to build Killingly” and that the administration could “play some games there,” referring to slowing the permitting process at DEEP. These quotes are deeply hurtful to the hardworking members […]
Not long after Congress enacted a $900 billion relief bill on Dec. 21 — which President Trump signed six days later — Connecticut learned it included nearly $750 million to support education here, and more than $230 million for affordable housing. The linchpin of this new money was $492 million for elementary and secondary schools. […]
The city’s plans to be first in Connecticut to open a school in an office park under a condominium-style agreement has put leaders in a race against an Oct. 1 grant deadline to get blueprints to the state. Missing the state deadline would make Danbury ineligible for an 80 percent reimbursement of the school’s estimated […]
Gov. Ned Lamont stepped in to help secure the deal — called a power purchase agreement, or PPA — between Dominion, Eversource and United Illuminating. The contract calls on the utilities to buy half the plant’s output over the next decade. Dominion had threatened to shutter the 2,100-megawatt Millstone unless the state let it compete […]
iPark Norwalk II LLC filed a special permit application earlier this month for a 244,750-square-foot expansion to its property at 761 Main Ave. The expansion calls for two new buildings to be added to the property: A 164,750-square-foot apartment complex featuring three floors of residential housing over one story of parking, and an 80,000-square-foot, 120-bedroom […]
Under a pair of 2018 Town Council-approved agreements, the town is in line for $5 million in Community Environmental Benefit, or CEBA, money, once the facility is built, along with $120 million in projected tax revenue over the course of 20 years of operation. The two agreements with NTE Energy, which is seeking to build […]
Kosta Diamantis, deputy secretary for the Office of Policy and Management, addressed the Connecticut Port Authority this week and fielded questions about the possibility of costs escalating for the $157 million project, which is being funded through a partnership by the state and joint venture partners Eversource and Ørsted. OPM was tasked by Lamont with […]
The project, which is garnering opposition from nearby residents, is expected to be discussed during a planning and zoning meeting Jan. 25, and would convert vacant land on Farmington Avenue — across the street from Jackson Lab and behind a UConn Health building — into a 146-unit apartment development with 224 parking spaces, including garages. […]
As he plans his two-year budget proposal, the state’s rapidly-depleting fund for transportation infrastructure is a major headache, Gov. Ned Lamont told a business audience on Friday. The state’s Special Transportation Fund is slowly but steadily going broke and could be exhausted by 2024. And updated transit infrastructure remains a key to the state’s future […]
“With the slim majority the Democrats have in the Senate, infrastructure spending is probably going to be one of the less controversial measures and could be implemented,” said Gautam Khanna, senior portfolio manager with Insight Investment. “A $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion package — somewhere in that zone — could get through.” But economists and […]
Looman is now the deputy administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, trades council President Harry Melander said in a press release. She started her new job Wednesday. “Jessica has dedicated her life to the labor movement and has been a pivotal voice in fighting for working families in Minnesota,” Melander […]
State departments of transportation are set to receive funds totaling $9.8 billion as a result of emergency aid from the $900 billion COVID-19 relief measure passed late last year. That number is a part of nearly $10 billion total earmarked for transportation spending, and experts say the funds are much needed. State DOTs can use […]
Gov. Ned Lamont, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, state Attorney General William Tong and Secretary of the State Denise Merrill told reporters that Biden’s inauguration puts on-track the next $1.9-trillion aid plan, including up to $400 billion for state and local governments. Connecticut is well positioned to fare well under the Biden […]
he city received a $600,000 grant to help build an off-road multi-use trail with the goal of connecting Downtown New Britain and CTFastrak to Plainville in the near future. Gov. Ned Lamont announced late last week the state is awarding $5 million in funding to 10 towns and cities across the state under a competitive […]
The concrete smashing, which has been the subject of complaints from both sides of the river in the last week, is part of the $53 million replacement of the Rochambeau Bridge which began this summer. Workers began the new year stripping the deck of the westbound bridge, while traffic is routed in both directions to […]
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced a $306 billion spending plan as part of his 2021 infrastructure agenda. In what Cuomo called “the largest, most ambitious plan put forward by any state in the nation,” the initiative will focus on a $51 billion transit-oriented redevelopment of Manhattan’s Midtown West area and the continued modernization […]
Gov. Ned Lamont on Tuesday said the words out loud more straightforward than he ever has: “I don’t want to build Killingly.” And while he’s hinted that he’s not thrilled with the prospect of the Killingly power plant, he’s never been quite that blunt. His comments were made to more than 300 environmental advocates attending […]
The maximum federal penalty for serious and other-than-serious violations is now $13,653 per violation, up from $13,494. The maximum penalty for willful or repeated violations is now $136,532 per violation, up from $134,937. Since 2017, OSHA has adjusted the fines according to the Cost of Living Index every year. If an establishment fails to make […]
Eversource Gas is scheduled to start installation of a gas line on Tuesday, Jan. 19, in the Forestville neighborhood that includes Fair Street, Grove Avenue, Buckley Avenue, Garden Street, Vernon Street and Pleasant Avenue. “The purpose of the work is to upgrade the existing gas line,” said Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu. The hours of construction will […]
BLT plans to formally open its 435-unit building on Feb. 1, but it has been leasing units for much of January. Escape is the latest puzzle piece in the ever-expanding Harbor Point development, which has steadily grown over BLT’s tenure in Stamford. The pandemic strengthened the market for single-family homes in Stamford, something that is […]
His time in Connecticut while a college student has merited scant mention from biographers and historians, but King himself said he forged strong memories of his summer job working on a tobacco farm in Simsbury. King was among a group of young Black men recruited to work in the tobacco fields around Simsbury during the […]
KBE Building Corporation, the general contractor in charge of the construction project at 291 Federal Road was given a stop work order on Dec. 23 when issues arose over one of its subcontractors, according to Department of Labor spokesperson Juliet Manalan. According to Manalan, subcontractor Wall to Wall Drywall — a drywall company based in […]
The city this month issued a request for redevelopment proposals for the vacant Arrowhead Building at 1355 Main St. and three vacant adjacent land parcels that together act as the tip of the arrowhead-shaped Salvin Block, which is bordered by Chapel, High, Pleasant and Main streets. RMS Cos. broke ground last fall on the first […]
Now Connecticut is left with a $2.8 billion bill, a cash-starved Special Transportation Fund headed toward insolvency, and a construction industry poised to shrink even as the state struggles with unprecedented unemployment. “Once we get out to the next several years, nothing is [fully] funded,” said Nate Brown, vice president of the Connecticut State Building […]
Gov. Ned Lamont said Tuesday — a day when the state’s COVID-19 test positivity rate hit 10.72%, the highest in a while — that he thinks he will ask the legislature to extend his emergency authority, currently set to expire Feb. 9. “If I just get another two-plus months, I think sometime in April we’ll […]
The town is now finalizing a tax agreement with a developer looking to build an $11.1 million hotel at 712 Cedar St. Town Councilors voted unanimously Tuesday night to offer Gold Coast Premier Properties a 40% tax abatement for 10 years, contingent on the developer’s plan to build a 122-room extended-stay hotel on the site, […]
A new report says collective bargaining agreements help create “robust” middle-class careers and make significant contributions to local economies. The report, released this week, was produced by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The study also found that apprenticeship programs paid by […]
Developer Carter Winstanley has spent the last 22 years working to build up a life science hub in New Haven. Two decades later, 300 George is at capacity, and two subsequent Winstanley bioscience buildings — 25 Science Park and 100 College St., home of Alexion Pharmaceuticals — are also full. This spring, he plans to […]
America’s infrastructure gap has reached to $5.6 trillion, according to the trade group American Society of Civil Engineers. The group said that the gap is a problem that, unaddressed, could lead to the loss of 3 million jobs over two decades. The group in its annual report card outlined how much infrastructure investment is falling […]
Gov. Ned Lamont said Monday that he will propose “revenue-raising ideas’’ for transportation in February to help the state’s long-troubled special transportation fund. After the high-profile failure last year of controversial highway tolls, Lamont says the state still needs to provide money to balance the Special Transportation Fund. The projected deficit for the transportation fund […]
That previous cost break-down led to for bonding $16.1 million to address roof, window and other long-standing issues at the former school, while also paying for modifications to allow a portion of the building to be used for recreation programming. Calorio said to accommodate the public at the school, new security doors would need to […]
The pandemic-induced recession has left Connecticut legislators with one of their tightest credit card limits in recent history — less than one-seventh their 2020 level. “I supported the ‘debt diet’ during the beginning of the Lamont administration,” said Rep. Sean Scanlon, D-Guilford, new House chairman of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee. “I thought that […]
On a webinar covering the results of the survey last week, which canvassed 1,300 construction firms in November and December, contractors lamented the difficulty of finding new projects and the challenges of keeping the ones they already have on track due to COVID-19 mitigation and productivity losses. “2021 looks to be a difficult year for […]
With seventh- and eighth-graders a part of the new Torrington Middle/High School, more traffic will be coming and going on Major Besse Drive once the $159.8 million building opens for the 2024-25 school year. The project’s building committee is looking to eradicate that problem by opening Daley Drive as a permanent access road to the […]
Connecticut’s solar energy sector is entering its next phase, marked by ever-larger projects and greater scrutiny by regulators and farming advocates on the long-term impact ground-mounted panel arrays have on the state’s limited stock of agricultural land. One upstart solar developer working to become a player in that evolving landscape is Hartford-based Verogy, and the […]
Should the city of New London continue to expect state funding through the Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT, program now that State Pier is property of the Connecticut Port Authority? Is the port authority board addressing the concerns of small ports like Norwich? Has the port authority analyzed projected job losses versus gains […]
As it contends with slashed levels of airline service, Bradley International Airport has cut costs in a number of areas in response to its declining revenues. The financial strain will not dissipate in 2021, but airport officials are hopeful that the adjustments will safeguard the Windsor Locks hub’s finances and persuade airlines to make long-term […]
The term “construction” appears 636 times in the $908 billion pandemic relief package and $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump at the end of December. In other words, while the relief package was less than half the size of the initial $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and […]
Businesses including restaurants were shut down in March and still are coping with Gov. Ned Lamont’s executive orders intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19. When the shutdown began, Carbone and Economic Development Director Rista Malanca developed forums for residents and businesses to ask questions, and when the orders were eased somewhat, allowing most businesses […]
President-elect Joe Biden has picked Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, a former top union leader, to serve as his Labor secretary, according to four sources, ending a selection process that split the labor movement and stoked diversity concerns among Democrats. Biden was widely expected to choose a Labor Department head who enjoyed the support of unions, […]
Mayor David V. Merchant plans to begin the new year by kicking off a long-awaited road reconstruction project on North Harwinton Avenue. Merchant said the town was able to secure $3 million in Local Capital Improvement grant funding from the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governors for the total reconstruction of North Harwinton Avenue. Another road […]
The Greater New Britain Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a webinar Friday featuring the New Britain, Berlin and Plainville directors of economic development. They will discuss current projects that are underway and expected to begin this year. The directors will also review activity that occurred in 2020. New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart will also […]
With many important pieces of legislation facing lawmakers this year, the fate of the Senate will have a major impact on construction-related issues, industry advocates say. Another crucial legislative issue for contractors this year is a potential federal infrastructure package. While passing a comprehensive infrastructure spending bill has been cast as a bipartisan measure that […]
“I don’t want our state to be defined by a COVID crisis — instead I want this year to be the year we changed the narrative of Connecticut; let this be the year of Connecticut’s Comeback,” Lamont said in a prerecorded speech that began airing just after 12:50 p.m. The traditional in-person speech in the […]
Veteran U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the new, powerful House Appropriations Committee chairwoman, promised Monday that once President-elect Joe Biden takes office, he will support major investments that should help Connecticut and the region. “I think in addition to transportation, you’re looking at broadband, airports, water projects, et cetera,” she said. “It is roads and bridges […]
Nuvance Health’s move to the burgeoning Summit building is a sign the west side development could flourish and drive growth throughout the city, despite the struggling economy. “It’s really great for the city because it takes this black eye that’s been sitting here for so long,” he said. “To be able to bring it back […]
A hearing intended to outline a $100 million makeover of downtown Hartford’s aging XL Center has been pushed back, after the owner of the atrium and storefront space outside the arena asked for a meeting with the Capital Region Development Authority, which is overseeing the project. The virtual hearing had been scheduled for Tuesday, but […]
A California-based commercial and multifamily developer has jumped coasts with a recent $1.1 million real estate deal in Wallingford. Michael Tevis, president of Menlo Park’s Intrinsic Ventures, purchased 135 N. Plains Industrial Road — a 21,000-square-foot office and light manufacturing building that sits on 2.4 acres — on Dec. 3, according to property records. The […]
Marquee issues like the budget, gambling expansion, a public option for health insurance and the legalization of marijuana will remain off stage as Gov. Ned Lamont and lawmakers mark the start of a session unlike any other. The Senate plans to convene at 10 a.m. on blacktop on the south side of the Capitol, seated […]
It was nearly a year ago that New London Mayor Michael Passero had expressed cautious optimism that the city was in line to reap some of the benefits of the planned overhaul of its port. After months of negotiations, The Connecticut Port Authority had agreed to a $157 million harbor redevelopment plan that would remake […]
But now with a major overhaul scheduled to begin in the spring of 2022, drivers can expect delays and occasional extended closures on a much more regular basis. Instead of the typical 8-minute wait, closings will sometimes last for up to 63 hours as the span is rehabilitated and a new pedestrian walkway is installed […]
Following concerned and critical comments from several residents of Boulder Court and Hancock Drive at a special meeting of the Groton Planning & Zoning Commission on Tuesday night, developer Jeff Respler laid out his latest vision for Mystic River Bluffs, a luxury 931-unit, mixed-use development at the Mystic Education Center property, site of the former […]
G.E. has yet to install one of these machines in ocean water. As a relative newcomer to the offshore wind business, the company faces questions about how quickly and efficiently it can scale up production to build and install hundreds of the turbines. G.E. has yet to install one of these machines in ocean water. […]
With some luck, $18 million and buy-in from new industries, the now-defunct Ansonia Copper and Brass site could spark a renaissance for the entire Valley. That’s the optimistic view that local officials have in their sights, helped out by a new 200-page plan that predicts the 116-acre complex could become a manufacturing center again with […]
Developers are closing in on final permits to build a natural gas plant in Killingly, prompting environmentalists to ratchet up their criticism of Gov. Ned Lamont’s environmental policies and urge a halt to the project. The Sierra Club, which is fighting the Killingly plant, said the governor “continues to tout his commitment to fighting the […]
Lamont’s budget staff in the Office of Policy and Management recently reported that the state’s Special Transportation Fund (STF) will end the fiscal year on June 30 with only about $108 million, down from $320 million on July 1, 2019 and just a fraction of the hundreds of millions needed to fund the major infrastructure […]
Given the success of the Mixmaster, it is no surprise that DOT is planning to utilize a PLA on the Gold Star north-bound bridge project between New London and Groton. DOT is making a common-sense and fiscally sound decision to include a PLA in the contract for construction. It’s a win-win for the state. Opponents, […]
Construction workers should receive the coronavirus vaccine after other frontline essential workers and people age 75 and older, according to recommendations made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. ACIP voted that the roughly 30 million Americans that fall into the frontline essential workers group, including first responders and […]
The State Bond Commission at its Dec. 18 meeting approved a $4 million grant from the state Department of Housing that will help fund the first phase of a 64-unit complex under development by Eastern Connecticut Housing Opportunities, or ECHO. That grant, combined with funding from a variety of other sources, gets ECHO to the […]
Schematic designs for the new Pleasant Valley Elementary School have been released, illustrating how the 102,000-square-foot building will look equipped with two entrances, a larger space for collaboration, and a wing specifically designed to serve preschool students with special needs. Once the design is completed, Barrett said, town officials will perform another cost estimate, and […]
The cinema at Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Conn., which features a six-story IMAX screen — the largest in the state — will close on Jan. 18 and be demolished to make way for a project to replace a 124-year-old railroad bridge, the aquarium has announced. Another cinema, with a two-story 4D screen and 169 seats, […]
The new year offers some hope for a rebound: a new presidential administration considered more friendly to public transit needs; vaccines that will slow the virus’ spread and help bring back commuters; federal stimulus dollars to blunt some of the pandemic’s effects and advances in major infrastructure projects. The federal stimulus bill recently signed by […]
A new deal with Nuvance Health is expected to bring 500 jobs to the state and fill much of the commercial space at the expansive Summit building. Nuvance and Summit Development have signed a lease for the seven-hospital health system to rent 220,000- square- feet of office space at the 1.2 million-square-foot building on the […]
On Monday, the day after President Donald Trump signed a $900 billion spending bill with COVID-19 relief measures, Gov. Ned Lamont provided preliminary numbers detailing how Connecticut will receive more than $4 billion in direct relief, with much more to come in additional relief. The direct relief to the state includes $1.6 billion for the […]
At last week’s board meeting, the school naming subcommittee revealed a list of five names — Candlewood Elementary, Candlewood Lake Elementary, Lakeside Elementary, Newbury Elementary and West Brook Elementary — for the board to consider. The committee compiled the list based on suggestions from students and the Municipal Building Committee. The Municipal Building Committee is […]
The bill includes $5 million for the museum, which brings the total support for the project from the federal government over the last four years to $20 million. The Coast Guard Museum Association, the fundraising arm for the project, has set a goal of $30 million in federal support. The museum association, in its 2020 […]
Officials have come to the conclusion that a Westhill renovation or replacement is a necessity, Mayor David Martin said this week during a meeting of the Long Term Facilities Committee. Last year, a proposal was presented to the Board of Representatives to have a private developer rebuild five schools — Toquam, Hart and Roxbury elementary […]
he U.S. Congress passed a $900 billion pandemic relief bill last night that includes $600 stimulus payments to qualifying individuals and a new round of Paycheck Protection Program funding for small businesses impacted by COVID-19. Although it took months to reach an agreement on a second relief bill, funds in the bill for transportation and […]
A new facility that recently opened on Breault Road takes the recycled glass collected by municipalities and changes it into a white, powdery material that can be mixed into cement, which can then be used for everything from roads to bridges to sidewalks. Not only does it make the cement more durable, the material, known […]
Connecticut’s congressional delegation Tuesday hailed the approval of $135 million for a new federal courthouse in downtown Hartford that would replace the aging and outdated court complex on Main Street. The $135 million approved late Monday in the federal budget and COVID-19 relief bill is just the first appropriation that will be needed for the […]
The new public works/Water Pollution Control Authority garage is in the final stages of construction, according to town officials. The new nearly 40,000-square foot building could be ready to open “on or close to the first of the year” – months ahead of schedule, officials said. The $9.3 million facility sits on a portion of […]
The bright yellow beam lowered into place by a crane on Tuesday was part of a topping off ceremony marking an early but significant step in the $108 million construction project at New London High School, now known as the New London High School Multi-Magnet Campus. The completion of the steel frame of the new […]
The Connecticut Port Authority is undertaking a big project to spur much-needed economic development in eastern Connecticut. We applaud Gov. Ned Lamont’s decision to include a Project Labor Agreement in the contract for construction of the State Pier in New London. This is a complex, large-scale project that requires a highly skilled local workforce. The […]
