As permits for Killingly gas plant advance, environmentalists step up demands to pull the plug

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 […]

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State fund for transportation, on track to fail in 2024, will be focus of General Assembly

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 […]

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Connecticut benefits from project labor agreements

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, […]

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CDC recommends construction workers get coronavirus vaccine after grocery workers, older Americans

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 […]

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Rebuild of Pleasant Valley Elementary on schedule, schematic designs released

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 […]

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New year brings optimism for NY-area mass transit systems

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 […]

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‘Major economic boost’: Nuvance signs lease with Danbury’s Summit, moving 500 jobs to CT

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 […]

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What is Connecticut getting from the federal COVID-19 relief bill?

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 […]

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Brookfield lists top 5 names for new elementary school as bidding process begins

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 […]

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COVID-19 relief package could aid construction through infrastructure funds, PPP loans

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 […]

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‘Pozzotive’ energy: Concrete, environment benefit from Urban Mining CT’s recycled product

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 […]

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$135M for new federal courthouse in Hartford hailed by Connecticut’s Congressional delegation

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 […]

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State Pier project labor agreement benefits New London community

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 […]

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Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, advocate of regionalism, elected 2021 president of state Conference of Municipalities

Bronin, who served as first vice president of the conference this year, was elected the group’s top board officer for 2021 at CCM’s virtual, statewide convention earlier this month. He follows outgoing CCM President Michael J. Freda, first selectman of North Haven, and is the first Hartford mayor elected to the yearlong president position since […]

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CT commits to transportation cap-and-trade program

The so-called Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI) is a type of cap-and-trade (or cap-and-invest) program that will place a limit on transportation fuel emissions and require fuel distributors to purchase allowances at auction to exceed the cap. Connecticut expects to collect about $1 billion from TCI over a 10-year period, including $89 million in the first […]

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‘It just looks beautiful’: A first look a the Bethel elementary school projects

The $65.8 million renovations to Rockwell and Johnson elementary schools are mostly complete and about $878,000 under budget. With natural light, more office and collaboration space, and other features, the buildings are major step up from before the renovations began last year, she said. Rockwell was built in 1971, while Johnson was built in 1980. […]

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‘We got in under the wire’: Litchfield snags federal funds for bridges before program ends

The board awarded the renovation project to Black & Warner Construction Co. in Unionville for about $900,000 for all four bridges. The bridges to be renovated will be on East Litchfield, Wheeler, Sawmill and Duck Pond roads. All are slightly greater than a 20-foot-span. According to Public Works Director & Town Engineer Raz Alexe, the […]

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Metro-North commuter rail won’t see fare increases, layoffs or ‘doomsday’ service cuts in 2021 — if federal funds come through

Leadership at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) — the entity that governs Metro-North commuter rail lines, which serve tens of thousands of Connecticut residents — approved a 2021 budget proposal on Wednesday that does not include drastic service cuts, layoffs or fare increases. That budget, however, assumes a $4.5 billion boost in 2021 from the […]

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Lawmakers step in as fuel cell makers decry state contracts

Under the Shared Clean Energy Facilities program, the contracts would fund electricity generators to share the benefits of alternative energy in low-income areas. Fuel cell makers — including FuelCell Energy, based in Danbury — have proposed converting industrial sites including brownfields for the purpose. In a Thursday interview, FuelCell CEO Jason Few expressed frustration with […]

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What Pete Buttigieg would bring to the Transportation Department

Buttigieg’s “Building for the 21st Century: An infrastructure plan to create jobs, increase resilience, and usher in a new era of opportunity” included $165 billion for the Highway Trust Fund to make it solvent through 2029. This would be funded through a user-fee system — perhaps a vehicle-miles traveled fee, the plan suggested — to […]

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East Hampton residents OK $1.1M project to rehab high school athletic fields

Residents overwhelmingly approved a $1.1 million proposal to rehabilitate athletic fields at the high school. The vote was 36-1, with 28 people voting by Zoom and nine — “mostly council members and staff,” according to Town Manager David E. Cox — voting in person. In addition to the track, the project also calls for renovating […]

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CRDA begins to visualize overhaul of XL Center’s lower bowl

The Capital Region Development Authority this month received renderings from SCI Architects depicting what some of the key elements of the interior renovations — which will focus on premium offerings in or around the XL Center’s lower bowl — could look like. The renderings of the fan-facing amenities are only preliminary designs, and there’s no […]

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Connecticut Port Authority faces criticism, chooses firm for State Pier redevelopment

The Connecticut Port Authority is negotiating a contract with Omaha-based Kiewit, a national construction, engineering and mining company, to serve as construction manager for the $157 million redevelopment project at State Pier in New London. The recommendation of Kiewit, one of two companies shortlisted for the job, came after review by representatives from the port […]

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Hartford eyeing major downtown parking-lot operator fee hikes in hopes of spurring new development

The city of Hartford is considering significantly raising fees on downtown parking-lot operators, a move that will help raise new revenue, but also likely lead to higher parking rates for consumers. The city council is scheduled to vote on an ordinance change at its Dec. 14 meeting that would increase the biennial permit fees it […]

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Pete Buttigieg emerging as leading contender for Transportation secretary

Pete Buttigieg is emerging as a leading contender to be Joe Biden’s Transportation secretary, multiple sources familiar with the transition’s deliberations tell CNN. The possible nomination would vault the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate into the federal government, getting the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor what many Democrats see as needed experience should he want to […]

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Wilton Heights project seeks new developer

Despite having all the approvals in place — on both the local and state levels — the developer for 300 Danbury Road has decided not to pursue the project, according to listing real estate broker Kevin O’Brien. The developer, the Spinnaker Group, which had been paying the taxes on the property, “decided to put it […]

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Can opportunity zones revive struggling neighborhoods?

Opportunity Zones are a federal tax incentive intended to draw private investment to distressed neighborhoods. A year ago it was one of the hottest ideas around. The state created a website and appointed a coordinator of the program. A year later, the program is, as U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, said in a recent […]

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Killingly councils OKs expanded school upgrade project

After hearing from residents during a special Saturday public hearing, the Town Council unanimously approved the appropriation and borrowing of $34 million for an expanded rehabilitation project at the Killingly Memorial School. The change in direction came after state officials offered an attractive reimbursement package for the entirety of the work. The Board of Education […]

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After Record Year, Modest Declines Expected in 2021 Transportation Construction Market

The U.S. transportation construction market is expected to shrink 5.5 percent next year, driven primarily by the severe economic recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to ARTBA’s annual forecast. Overall, the value of work is expected to drop from $294.2 billion in 2020 to $278.1 billion in 2021. The major drop-off in transportation user […]

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Hartford parking garage demolition could be delayed until next year

Demolition of the aging 795-car parking garage at One Talcott Plaza owned by Hartford’s largest commercial landlord may not happen until next year, as talks with historic preservation officials continue. The Historic Preservation Commission, according to Bronin, has raised questions and concerns about a two-story pedestrian footbridge attached to the garage and offices above it. […]

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Leaky roofs first, then ‘mission critical’ improvements in Hamden schools

A year after the district scrapped the construction of a new West Woods Elementary school building, the town is moving forward with a plan to put nearly $1.6 million toward roof and window projects there and at Dunbar Hill Elementary School. The Legislative Council unanimously approved an ordinance reallocating funds from old capital accounts to […]

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Tribes putting off East Windsor casino project indefinitely

After a Zoom meeting with state and local officials representing East Windsor, the chairmen of the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes announced Wednesday they will continue delaying development of the state’s third casino in the north-central Connecticut town, a project the state authorized in 2017. Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun have struggled to withstand downturns in […]

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From dirt lot to outdoor destination, Newtown leaders looking to transform downtown Sandy Hook lot

Leaders have secured a $128,000 state grant to help convert a dirt lot into a destination for outdoor events in downtown Sandy Hook and encourage the crowds to return once the pandemic is conquered. The state money, part of $11 million in capital improvement grants awarded in November by Gov. Ned Lamont to help Connecticut […]

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‘Real concerns about parking’: Proposal for downtown Bethel apartments faces obstacles

Providing enough parking may be the biggest obstacle facing a proposal for 18 apartments and commercial spaces in the downtown. The plan calls for offering 27 parking spots for an expanded 155 Greenwood Ave. building and four other buildings between Greenwood and School Street. Also proposed is an at least eight-foot pedestrian walkway on the […]

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Killingly leans into larger school renovation project with higher state reimbursement

Presented with a time-sensitive – and higher state reimbursement – opportunity to apply for a top-to-bottom school renovation project, the Town Council on Wednesday agreed to withdraw a previous application that would only have demolished portable classrooms and added a new wing at the Killingly Memorial School. The cost for the main building work is […]

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Trade groups: Amid COVID-19 challenges, construction has performed better than most industries

Contractors have dealt with a range of challenges this year, including layoffs, government shutdowns, canceled projects and the increased costs of keeping sites open during the pandemic. For example, despite enjoying essential business status in most of the country, the construction industry still lost jobs across 58% of metro areas year-over-year through October, due to […]

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CT Green Bank spinoff’s new partnership opens door to solar projects nationwide

Inclusive Prosperity Capital (IPC), a nonprofit spinoff from the Connecticut Green Bank, is entering into partnerships with San Diego’s Greenprint Capital and the Green Bank that will enable IPC to acquire, build and operate solar projects across the country. IPC now has a tax equity partnership with Greenpoint, which works with municipalities to fund environmental […]

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With closing date set for MIRA trash plant, Connecticut looks for a long-term solution

The agency that runs the regional trash-to-energy plant in Hartford has set June 30, 2022 as a target date to stop burning garbage and truck the waste instead to out-of-state landfills. Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority President Tom Kirk said Monday that he does not see costs to MIRA’s 51 member communities changing significantly after […]

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Construction on Windsor Amazon fulfillment center underway

Construction work at 1201 Kennedy Road hummed along Thursday morning, with crews hauling materials from a roadside staging area about a quarter mile to the building site. The multistory structure is now visible from vantage points along Interstate 91 and Route 20. In an email, Town Manager Peter Souza said the project’s developer expects the […]

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With businesses and housing planned, Brookfield Village moves ahead with construction on its second phase

Construction on the second phase of Brookfield Village is moving ahead at the town’s Four Corners. The project’s second phase is expected to reach completion by the end of next year, according to George Walker, a marketing representative who works for Advantage Commercial Realty. The project’s first phase buildings are “100 percent leased up,” and […]

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Tolls make more sense than higher gas tax

Since my column last week, arguing that installing electronic tolls on state highways remains the best means of paying for Connecticut’s transportation needs, an alternative proposal has been placed back on the table — raising taxes. This is what you get, anti-toll folks, because the need to address Interstate 95 congestion, shore up aging bridges […]

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Major development approved for downtown New London

The Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a site plan for two multistory buildings with 173 apartment units between Bank Street and Shaw’s Cove. The buildings are considered Phase 2 and 3 of Shaw’s Landing at 400 Bank St., a development completed in 2006 that now contains 35 condominiums. Mayor Michael Passero said […]

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Glastonbury architectural firm chosen to lead Torrington school project

SLAM Collaborative, a Glastonbury-based architectural firm, has been selected as the architect for the $159.6 million school, which residents approved last month. The building committee last week picked SLAM after interviewing three other firms that also submitted requests for quotes: JCJ of Hartford, Kaestle Boos Associates of New Britain and Perkins Eastman of Stamford. SLAM […]

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Crucial phase of Groton Utilities’ water treatment plant completed

A “crucial phase of Groton Utilities’ water treatment plant construction project” has been completed and water is now being clarified and filtered within the plant, according to an announcement. The plant is slated to be completed in spring of 2021. Cam Walden, supervising sanitary engineer from DPH, said the project “was considered the state’s number […]

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O&G takes steps toward boost in energy efficiency

At its 60-acre site on Bogue Road in Harwinton, O&G has invested more than $800,000 over the past year in equipment and system upgrades that should significantly reduce the amount of energy its asphalt and concrete plants use. Paul Balavender, O&G’s general counsel, said the upgrades are projected to reduce annual electric use by 12% […]

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Ideanomics Closes on $5.2 Million Purchase Of Former UConn Campus In West Hartford

Ideanomics, formerly Seven Stars Cloud Group, closed the deal on its $5.2 million purchase of the 58-acre former UConn campus, the company announced Wednesday. The company plans to invest $283 million to develop fintech solutions through artificial intelligence and blockchain, and create 330 jobs. Ideanomics purchased the former UConn parcel for $5.2 million. Ideanomics, when […]

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Milford school updates could top $13 million; educators look at ‘post-COVID requirements’

Over the past few months, the permanent schools facilities building committee has been interviewing architectural firms. Once hired, the architect will start designing the building. The next step is for the state to review the project and give recommendations. Then the construction can go out to bid, he said. The renovation will include a new […]

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DOT: Traffic shift planned on Arrigoni Bridge as Stage 2 work begins

As work begins on the second stage of the $46 million rehabilitation of the Arrigoni Bridge, motorists can expected a traffic shift starting the week of Dec. 14. “The construction stage shift consists of placing a temporary concrete barrier on Route 17/Route 66 to facilitate work on the center lanes of the Arrigoni Bridge approach-spans,” […]

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Coastal Wealth building nears completion in Mystic

Work is almost complete on the new home of Coastal Wealth Management, one of the largest buildings constructed here in recent years. The more than 40-foot-tall, 9,800-square-foot building sits along Route 1 just west of Masons Island Road. It’s among several projects under construction or about to start within a short distance just east of […]

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Will CT legislators raise the gas tax? With tax rates now below the national average, it’s possible

With tolls off the table in 2021, state officials could look to gasoline tax hikes to salvage Connecticut’s imperiled transportation program. And while neither Gov. Ned Lamont nor legislators have proposed an increase, one of the argument most frequently used to defeat it — Connecticut’s gas taxes are among the nation’s highest — no longer […]

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Jeff Jacobs: What’s UConn’s future at Hartford’s XL Center? David Benedict offers some ideas

In a wide-ranging podcast with Hearst Connecticut Media on Monday, UConn Athletic Director David Benedict said he thought that because of the ramifications of the pandemic, the construction costs of the school’s new hockey facility will be lower. Yet it is with the future use of the XL Center in Hartford and Gampel Pavilion in […]

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Transportation infrastructure could be key to inclusive economic recovery, but investment has languished

The state’s Special Transportation Fund spent $1.61 billion in 2019 — the last fiscal year before the coronavirus pandemic struck. After adjusting for inflation, that’s just 21% growth since 2011. The debt service on the hundreds of millions of dollars Connecticut borrows annually for highway, bridge and rail upgrades, and spending on transit programs, together […]

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‘The Village’ takes shape in Stamford’s South End

The transformation is nearly complete, with the developers of the 133,000-square-foot complex known as The Village announcing this month that they plan to open the hub next spring. It will become a home base not only for the conglomerate Wheelhouse and reality-TV powerhouse ITV America, but also a number of other businesses. Plans for the […]

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On Connecticut farmland where tobacco once grew warehouses now sprout, powering a new economy of online sales and advanced logistics

Warehouses are sprouting on Connecticut farmland where tobacco once grew, giving the state bragging rights to a retail economy transformed by digital technology, advanced logistics and the coronavirus pandemic. Surging online sales, fueled by a rapidly evolving retail economy where people shop at home and products are delivered from warehouses, are behind this transformation. The […]

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State-funded $20 million pedestrian bridge in New London gets green light

With local land-use approval secured for a nearly $20 million pedestrian bridge linking downtown to the future National Coast Guard Museum, talks continue with state officials about the release of funding for the project. The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission earlier this month granted conditional approval to plans for a 400-foot, glass-walled pedestrian bridge spanning […]

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Analysts: Lamont, lawmakers face $4.3 billion gap in next two-year Connecticut budget

State officials are facing almost $4.3 billion in red ink in the next two-year budget, due largely to the coronavirus-induced recession, according to a new report Friday from nonpartisan analysts. Those deficits, while daunting, are significantly less imposing than the massive shortfalls Connecticut faced after the last recession in 2011 — gaps that forced a […]

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Some key Bridgeport downtown projects moving slowly

John Guedes, who operates the city-based Primrose Companies architecture and construction, said he has learned to take a believe-it-when-he-sees-it approach to Bridgeport’s economy: “Don’t worry about the ones (plans) that have been approved, worry about the ones that have been started.” This week, staff from the economic development department briefed members of the City Council […]

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CT’s unemployment trust fund goes broke; employers on hook for millions in federal borrowing

The state’s unemployment insurance trust fund, which typically raises $800 million a year via employer taxes, ran out of money in August, forcing the state to borrow $402 million from the federal government to date, said Michael Lucente, the unemployment claims director of accounts within the state Department of Labor. That loan has helped pay […]

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Middletown Combines Two Projects Into One With Single Prime Contractor

Phase II work is under way on the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) Arrigoni Bridge project. The $46 million undertaking in Middletown/Portland is the result of a 2010 safety report, which found deficiencies in the structure’s two main arch spans. “Due to the possibility of conflicting traffic patterns and the need for constant project coordination, […]

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Connecticut Leaders Hoping For Influx of Transportation Funding From Biden Administration

Gov. Ned Lamont’s unsuccessful push to toll state highways was an unpopular answer to a persistent problem: Connecticut’s transportation fund is drying up. And with no political appetite to revisit tolls, hopes rest on a federal Band-Aid. The Lamont administration lobbied hard to pass some form of a tolls bill during the last two legislative […]

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Wind Energy Will Be Built Union

The agreement is between North America’s Building and Construction Trades Unions (NABTU) and Ørsted, an international leader in wind technology. The deal sets a model for labor-management cooperation and workforce development in the budding offshore wind industry. Ørsted has a large footprint in the wind industry having been awarded and built offshore wind farms from […]

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Contaminated soil case expands with new arrests of former Fairfield officials

A cabal of senior Fairfield town officials conspired with the head of a Clinton environmental cleanup company to illegally dispose of hundreds of yards of highly-contaminated soil while assuring town residents and employees forced to work with the material that everything was safe, according to arrest warrant affidavits released Thursday. One day after former Fairfield […]

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Business park in Occum still in the works

On Sept. 30, the latest amendment to the Agreement of Sale of land from Byron Brook Country Club, LLC and M&A Holdings, LLC to the Norwich Community Development Corp. (NCDC) was signed, and was made public last Friday. NCDC, along with Norwich Public Utilities, has been working on developing a second business park in Norwich. […]

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Connecticut’s $210M Airport Transportation Center Project Ahead of Schedule

A new $210 million Ground Transportation Center planned for the airport has been slated for substantial completion in February 2022, with an official opening the following May. Bradley International Airport is located north of Hartford in Windsor Locks. The 1.4 million sq. ft. transportation center will be built on a 13.4-acre site located west of […]

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NOAA rejects objections to Electric Boat’s use of dredging disposal site

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has upheld Electric Boat’s request to use an eastern Long Island Sound dredging disposal site, according to a news release from U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District. Citing environmental concerns, the state of New York had taken several legal actions seeking to stop use of the site, referred to […]

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Solar project developers say they’d preserve land for later farm use

A spokeswoman for the proposed Gravel Pit Solar project in East Windsor says developers have a plan to implement innovative soil restoration and preservation measures throughout the facility to improve soil quality. The Connecticut Siting Council on Thursday held an evidentiary and public hearing for the proposed 120-megawatt project on 485 acres across several sites […]

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Stonington commission OKs permit for Mystic hotel

The Stonington Planning and Zoning Commission voted 4-1 Tuesday night to approve a special use permit to build a six-room, three-story hotel with a rooftop pool on the site of the former Broadway Auto service station. The estimated $1.5 million to $2 million project will be developed by G Development LLC of Waterford. G Development, […]

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$14M Dillon Stadium renovation was marred by ‘charade of an RFP’ that ‘undermines public confidence,’ says watchdogs’ draft report

The contracting panel unveiled a draft of new report that criticizes the project on issues including unequal treatment of bidders and spending $4 million in state taxpayer money long before a contract was finally signed for work that was already underway. “The way this RFP (”request for proposals” from prospective stadium developers) was conducted, in […]

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‘We need an economic boom:’ downtown Bridgeport pins hopes on amphitheater

Over the next few months, the roof for developer Howard Saffan’s open-air concert amphitheater near the harbor will be completed, with the steel frame going up now and what he has touted as the project’s most distinctive feature — a massive, tent-style fabric covering manufactured in France and Mexico — being installed in “the first […]

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State approves 75-acre solar energy facility in Waterford

The Connecticut Siting Council last week approved a controversial plan to install a 75-acre facility with almost 46,000 solar panels between Oil Mill and Stony brooks. While developer GRE Gacrux LLC received its long-sought approval for the property at 117 Oil Mill Road, local environmental group Save the River-Save the Hills was not as pleased. […]

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In S. Windsor, growing distribution-center network takes center stage

It’s been more than a decade since plans for an ambitious $71-million South Windsor movie studio project were first publicly aired. Instead, a different type of industry has sprouted in town: distribution centers. In fact, since 2017, about 1.5 million square feet of distribution space has been erected in South Windsor by a single developer […]

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Construction schedule on Oxoboxo Lofts pushed back

Work on Oxoboxo Lofts, the planned 72-unit development in town, was suspended this year, but Massachusetts-based developer Dakota Partners is planning to carry on with construction in January 2021. The nagging issue for the developer has been procuring a flood management certification for the development on Pink Row and at the location of the former […]

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States with biggest drops, gains in construction employment

The construction industry added 84,000 net new jobs in October, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released last week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. During the last six months, the industry added 789,000 jobs, recovering 73% of the jobs lost during earlier stages of the coronavirus pandemic. The construction […]

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Newtown’s $15M police HQ called a ‘shining commitment to public safety’

The new $15 million police headquarters that opened on Monday was approved by Newtown residents two years before demonstrations broke out in American cities this summer over concerns about bias and brutality in law enforcement. The impetus for the new police headquarters was in early 2015 when newly appointed police Chief James Viadero met Dan […]

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Connecticut Port Authority launches website on State Pier developments

The Connecticut Port Authority on Thursday launched a website, www.statepiernewlondon.com, aimed at providing information on the planned $157 million transformation of State Pier. The website is managed by AECOM Technical Services Inc., the port authority’s construction administrator for the project. The project is being funded, with state support, by joint venture partners Orsted and Eversource […]

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Coronavirus pandemic opens window of opportunity for Hartford’s XL Center arena renovations: bunker suites and a new ice maker

The extent of the renovations will depend when the State Bond Commission releases some or all of the $65 million approved for the $100 million project in the last session of the legislature. CRDA does have about $22 million in its coffers to get started. The focus of project — slimmed down from $250 million […]

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Plainville to commission study to evaluate White Oak proposals

The Town of Plainville will hire Loureiro Engineering to evaluate both proposals for the White Oak property and plans to present their findings to the town council. There are currently two proposals for re-use of the property. D’Amato Construction Company, which is currently located in Bristol, is looking to relocate to Plainville if the town […]

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Brookfield, New Fairfield town hall projects among several in Danbury area to earn state grants

Several Danbury area towns received grants for infrastructure improvement projects as part of $11 million in funding the state announced on Monday. Bethel, Bridgewater, Brookfield, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Ridgefield, Roxbury, Sherman, Southbury and Washington are among the 94 towns to earn these grants, which are being awarded for the first time since 2016 […]

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What’s in store for contractors under a Biden presidency?

In terms of infrastructure spending, contractors can look to what Biden outlined during his campaign. The presumptive president-elect said his administration will invest $2 trillion into the economy, creating millions of jobs in infrastructure, housing, building construction and other projects. Another clue as to what the Biden administration could include can also likely be found […]

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Torrington building committee to choose an architect for new school project

Requests for quotations for architectural services were sent out Friday, Arum said. Those requests will be returned Nov. 17 before the building committee next meets Nov. 19 to determine their top four architects. Interviews will then be conducted with those four architects, with the top architect being determined Nov. 24. From January 2021 to February […]

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Down with the old, up with the new as workers build a new Platt Tech HS in Milford

Inside, some of Platt Tech’s 850 students are learning the fundamentals of construction and building trades. Since April, construction of a brand new 237,000 square foot, $92 million Platt Tech complex has been ongoing on the 35-acre site. Its athletic fields fields were dug up, foundations poured and steel framing erected. Currently, the steel framing […]

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Electric Boat secures $9.47 billion Navy contract to build Columbia submarines

General Dynamics Electric Boat has secured a $9.47 billion U.S. Navy contract for two Columbia-class submarines, part of a program that Electric Boat President Kevin Graney called the Navy’s “top strategic priority.” The funding will support the “construction and test of the lead and second ships of the Columbia class, as well as associated design […]

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Ahead of Parkade revival, Manchester officials look to next area of redevelopment focus

The town’s approved developer for the former “dark side” of the Manchester Parkade is targeting a spring start for a mixed-use revival of the once blighted site. The planned $140 million commercial project calls for 480 apartments, a 120-room hotel, 98,000 square feet of office space and 63,00 square feet of retail space. Environmental monitoring […]

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Memorial Boulevard Intradistrict Arts Magnet School project coming in under budget

The Memorial Boulevard Intradistrict Arts Magnet School project is coming in at about $2 million under budget, according to Deputy Superintendent Michael Dietter, chairman of the project’s building committee. The city and the school board are collaborating on the project to transform the nearly century-old school an arts magnet school for grades six through 12. […]

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Anna Reynolds School referendum passes easily in Newington

A proposal to spend $35.5 million on school improvements was approved by a 7,179 to 2,589 vote at the polls, according to town clerk James Krupienski. Local taxpayers will be responsible for up to $17.5 million of the cost, with state school building grants covering the remainder of the renovate-to-new project. Brummett said construction won’t […]

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