The city is seeking a $24 million grant to develop state-of-the-art facilities on the site of the former Torrington Company at 70 North St. and to expand Dymax at 318 Industrial Lane. The City Council on Monday authorized Mayor Elinor C. Carbone to submit a proposal for a $24 million grant application to the state Department of Economic and Community Development’s Innovation Cluster Program. The state will be offering $100 million in such grants over the next five years, Economic Development Director William Wallach said during a presentation. The $54.1 million project includes a one-to-one match from the city, which is a requirement of the grant, Wallach said. It will be achieved through an investment by IRG, a loan from Connecticut Green Bank – facilitated through Fuel Cell Energy – and DECD tax rebates.

https://www.rep-am.com/localnews/2024/10/23/torrington-seeks-grant-to-develop-state-of-the-art-industrial-facility/

Construction is underway at 491 and 519 Spring St. for the town’s new senior center and police station, with both facilities expected to be open by next summer. In January, the former first selectman Paul Harrington said that roughly $18 million will be used to build the 18,000-square-foot police station, and about $13 million will be used to build the senior center. The buildings will share a parking lot. The money was allocated for the construction after a referendum was approved at the beginning of the year to allow for up to $780,000 in additional bonds for the new senior center, and just under $4 million in additional bonds to build the new police station. First Selectman Scott Storms said in January that the current police station at 4 Volunteer Drive is too small of a space, and that an upgrade is “absolutely needed.”

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/journalinquirer/article/ct-windsor-locks-senior-center-police-station-19857124.php

The Connecticut Proton Therapy Center will be 25,000 square-foot facility off Interstate 91 operated by Proton International. Located at 932 Northrop Road, the center is the first of its kind in Connecticut and one of only three in New England with others in New York and Boston. There are 45 operating centers in the U.S. and 93 worldwide. The central location in Wallingford, officials have said, is critical in allowing ease of access to everyone from across the state. Officials said that before it was prohibitive for many residents to seek treatment out of state, not only because of the travel expenses but with the uncertainty of being able to get treatment, given the wait to get into some facilities. They hoped that this facility would open the doors for those suffering with specific cancer diagnoses and allow them easier and cheaper care.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/recordjournal/article/wallingford-proton-treatment-center-groundbreaking-19857506.php

While hydrogen has tremendous potential for helping with decarbonization in the fight against global warming, it is hindered by the cost of producing it cleanly — which makes an event held Wednesday in Wallingford a step in the right direction. Nel Hydrogen, a Norway-based company that produces clean hydrogen from renewable resources, hosted local, state and federal officials, and current and potential customers from around the world, to celebrate its newly renovated and expanded facility at 10 Technology Drive. The global company, which reported $333.7 million in revenue but a net loss of $104.8 million in the third quarter of 2024, invested about $30 million to renovate and modernize its approximately 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility to increase its capacity for producing electrolyzers, which use electricity to separate hydrogen and oxygen from water. Sunita Satyapal, the director of the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office of the U.S. Department of Energy, attended the event and praised Nel’s efforts to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen. She also said the federal bipartisan infrastructure law signed by President Biden in 2021 includes a National Clean Hydrogen Strategy.

Green hydrogen producer Nel debuts $30M renovation of Wallingford plant

Nine companies were cited last Thursday when a surprise state Department of Labor inspection determined that some appeared to be misclassifying workers as independent contractors and others were not providing workers compensation for employees. Belfonti Companies, the Hamden-based developer company doing the massive project, did not respond to a phone message Wednesday. A staff member would say only that Chief Executive Officer Michael Belfonti was away for the day. The stop-work orders apply only to the specific subcontractors cited, so work by other crews is allowed to continue. “The Wage and Workplace Standards Division rescinds the stop work orders when the employer resolves the violations,” department spokeswoman Juliet Manalan said Wednesday. “In these cases, the employer must show proof of sufficient workers compensation insurance for their employees and correct classification of workers.” “We’ve put a lot of state money into this, the town of Rocky Hill has put a lot of money into it with a tax abatement,” Lesser said. “All employers have to pay workers comp. We really need contractors to do the right thing and treat their workers fairly — that’s why this is such a disappointment.

Slew of ‘stop work’ orders hit CT signature housing project. Why and what’s being done.

Voters will consider whether Connecticut should amend its constitution to permit anyone to vote by absentee ballot, whether to renovate and expand 100-year-old Macdonough Elementary School, and whether to construct a new emergency operations center. Central Communications is the 911 service provider for Middletown and Portland. The anticipated project is a rebuild of the one-room public safety office at the Cross Street firehouse. If approved, the center would move to the emergency operations facility at 499 Mile Lane and co-located with the old U.S. Army Reserve Center. “There are questions that people need to understand that are going to have an impact on the long-term prosperity and future of our community,” Florsheim said during a news conference Friday at City Hall. “Voting is not the only part of civic engagement, but it is the fundamental basis for our democracy,” the mayor added.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/middletown-voting-election-bond-referendums-59m-19854522.php

Four local agencies are set to receive money from the State Bond Commission, which met Tuesday to approve a lengthy list of requests ranging from a designs for a new library, to supporting ongoing renovations and restoration of the Thomaston Opera House and renovations to the Warner Theatre. From the Department of Economic and Community Development’s Community Investment Fund, Torrington’s Warner Theatre is receiving $1.5 million for renovations and improvements to the Art Deco building on Main Street. The money will be used to improve the stage-level dressing rooms and the back of the house, to make it more appealing to national acts, according to theater administrators. The plan is to renovate the Warner’s historic building, lobby, and stage, including the HVAC and electrical systems, and to fix accessibility issues, according to theater co-executive director Stephanie Fried said. The theater will also modernize its sound, lighting, lighting control, security and smoke alarm systems. The Thomason Opera House is receiving $2 million from the Community Investment Fund to support its continuing renovation and restoration of the historic building. The phased renovation project began in early 2024, and is a collaboration between the town, Thomaston Opera House Commission, Friends of the Thomaston Opera House and Landmark Community Theatre.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/ct-bond-commission-torrington-area-projects-19851703.php

New Britain officials are trumpeting a newly approved $6 million state grant that will be used to demolish buildings at its former Department of Public Works yard on Harvard Street and prepare the 3.1-acre site for redevelopment. Officials hope to see the former DPW yard at 55 and 70 Harvard St., which sits near a CTfastrak bus stop, become a mix of multifamily housing and other uses that will take advantage of this mass-transit option. The state Bond Commission on Tuesday signed off on the $6 million grant. The request was initially endorsed by the state’s Community Investment Fund board in September. The roughly $55 million greenhouse construction in the Maine project is being funded and managed by Vertical Harvest Farms, a partner recruited for the development. The apartment portion of the project has not yet launched.

$6M state grant to clear New Britain DPW yard for mixed-use, transit-oriented development 

More maintenance work is expected to start next summer on the Saugatuck River Railroad Bridge, with construction mainly planned for overnight. The railings and grating will be constructed of fiberglass-reinforced plastic, which weighs less than steel and is corrosion-resistant, project manager Everett Milam said at a virtual meeting about the bridge on Monday. Other track construction and the close proximity to high-voltage lines adds to the project time, Milam said. It is also north of the Norwalk Walk Bridge project, which could change the schedule. The Saugatuck bridge project is expected to start summer 2025, lasting about 12 months and costing between $5 million and $7.5 million, with all of that being state funded.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/westport-saugatuck-river-railroad-bridge-19854114.php

The Bond Commission approved nearly $36 million for the northbound Gold Star Bridge renovation, which represents the state’s matching funds for the current phase of the work, which includes testing, replacing, repairing and reinforcing steel under the bridge, said state Rep. Christine Conley, D-Groton. As each step of the construction proceeds, the state will appropriate the matching funds. The state Department of Transportation said this spring that the $591 million construction project, which includes steel and concrete repairs, the replacement of the bridge deck and bearings, painting, new lights, railing and fencing, will be undertaken with 90% federal funds and 10% state matching funds. The commission awarded New London $250,000 for planning related to the redevelopment of the Gordon Court senior housing units overseen by the city’s Housing Authority. The authority is planning a $65 million project that calls for demolishing the three 60-year-old state-overseen housing complexes it operates – Gordon Court, the George Washington Carver Apartments on Colman Street and Riozzi Court – and replacing them with single buildings.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20241022/state-bond-commission-approves-funding-for-gold-star-bridge-local-projects/#