Atlantic Wire Buildings Leveled

The sprawling and dilapidated Atlantic Wire buildings have been leveled in a demolition project that began in July.

“The buildings are down, and we’re happy about that,” said Anthony Cinicola, who heads the town’s Building Department.

But even though the buildings are gone, crews from Cherry Hill Construction of North Branford will continue working to remove high mounds of debris.

“They’re going to be there awhile to separate, process and remove the bricks and steel and concrete,” Cinicola said. He estimates the work will probably continue into October before the site is ready for final inspection. This is how the work site looked last week, on Sept. 11.

The Eagle was there to photograph how the last building came down. Here is the sequence. 

The excavator moves closer.

And closer.

What’s left of the building begins to sway and tumble. 

Then comes a big push.

The side of the building goes over.

The roof reaches toward the sky.

Another view.

Almost done.

Nearing the end of the day.

There were times when this sign said it all.

Cinicola monitored the demolition work over the summer. ​“They’ve done a good job,” he said, adding that there were very few complaints from anyone.

Doug Talmadge of Cherry Hill Construction walks the site. 

Cinicola said the final inspection of the demolition site will verify if everything has been cleaned up and the site is safe. Here Dan Reyes of Cherry Hill Construction moves forward.

“It wasn’t an easy project,” Cinicola said. Especially since the buildings were located between Meadow Street on one side and the Amtrak railroad tracks and the Branford River on the other side. Meadow Street was closed from time to time. 

Behold Meadow Street without Atlantic Wire. 

“And now it’s on to the next phase,” Cinicola said. Here’s Meadow Street looking toward Montowese without Atlantic Wire. The sun is shining, showing a view one might have seen in 1904, two years before Atlantic Wire was founded by William Hitchcock Sr. and his family. 

Enter Atlantic Wharf

That next phase will be the construction of Atlantic Wharf, a residential and retail complex on the 7.5 acre factory site in the heart of Branford.

Developer Robert H. Smith Jr., CEO of Milford-based Metro Star Properties LLC, plans to construct an upscale apartment complex featuring 203 apartments, plus retail and restaurants.

Smith and his partners have an option to purchase the former factory property. The site is currently owned by One Church Street LLC — a corporation comprised of Kevin O’Neill, president of Cherry Hill Glass Co. on Elm Street; and his corporate partners, Jeffrey A. James and Theodore J. Cwiertniewicz.

The plans also call for the developers to build a new road through the complex and realign the convoluted intersection of Meadow and Montowese streets and Pine Orchard Road.

Demolition was initially planned for last summer, but was delayed by a lawsuit filed by a neighbor. The case was dismissed in January 2017, and the deadline for further appeals expired in April. 
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