Might the Atlantic Wire Company site rise from its criminal demise to become a lively artist colony in the heart of Branford?
The company went bankrupt and shut down after authorities started chasing it for polluting the Branford River.
Now the town wants to see the property cleaned up — literally and figuratively — to make way for a builder to construct a Left Bank on the Branford River with spacious artist studios.
First Selectman Unk DaRos loves the idea that this prime town center parcel might become a destination place for tourists and residents. He envisions lofts, boutiques and stores all along a splendid river walk. DaRos does not rule out some type of housing.
He sketched the broad outlines of his idea to the members of the Democratic Town Committee at its monthly meeting Tuesday night.
He told the group that several developers had called his office just that day. “They are interested in developing this parcel of land and they are asking what we are looking to do with it.”
The roughly 8.3 acre site has been put up for sale for $2.8 million by H. Pearce commercial realtors. The current buildings occupy roughly 160,000 square feet. With the sale comes an $800,000 credit for environmental clean-up. The land is located a few blocks from the Branford railroad station and a half mile from I‑95.
The building is located in an industrial zone known as IG‑1, one of the town’s oldest zones. Since then houses and retail stores have grown up around it. A developer might need to obtain a zoning change, depending upon how the plans are drawn.
Atlantic Wire was founded in 1906. It was one of the oldest companies in Branford. It shut its doors after it filed for bankruptcy in August, and 70 people lost their jobs.
In December, the company pleaded guilty through its attorney to federal criminal charges, admitting it violated the federal Clean Water Act and submitted false statements to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. So far no individual has been charged, but the investigation is continuing.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal called Atlantic Wire one of the worst polluters in the state. He said an illegal toxic discharge in September 2007 killed hundreds of blue crabs in the Branford Harbor. The company had other violations dating to 2003. Blumenthal filed civil charges; the U.S. Attorney filed criminal charges. The company will be sentenced in U.S. District Court in Hartford on March 20. It faces a maximum $1 million in fines.
As DaRos spoke, and he did not discuss the criminal case, Scott Thayer, the former executive vice-president of Atlantic Wire, listened attentively. He sat in the front row of the audience and offered no comment on the DaRos proposal. Thayer is a member of the DTC as well as a member of the Representative Town Meeting. He left Atlantic Wire in May, 2008, but was a top executive during the time the illegal activities occurred, court documents show. Those documents do not identify Thayer or any other individual as responsible for criminal actions.
Roger Reynolds, senior attorney for the Connecticut Fund for the Environment, the group that first brought the lawsuits against the company, said in an interview that he has been talking “with the attorney general and the U. S. Attorney’s office. We understand that the investigation is very much alive, is continuing with respect to the civil liability and the criminal liability of the individuals involved.”
Public Input
DaRos said he wants the town to be involved in the Atlantic Wire development process because he wants to change the alignment of a key road, a change also advocated in the past by Republican Third Selectman John Opie. He said he has won approval from the land’s owners, who are not the company’s owners, that the town will be represented in a future sales agreement.
Specifically, DaRos wants an understanding that the town will get a new “T” intersection that links a new road to Pine Orchard Road. Meadow Street, where part of the company lies, would become part of the new facility.
This change would eliminate the now difficult-to-navigate intersections at Meadow, South Montowese and Pine Orchard Road. He also said that town involvement would help expedite the cleanup because the town could apply for additional environmental clean-up grants beyond the $800,000.
“You may laugh,” DaRos (pictured) told the group as he began. “I will tell you what I would like to see done with it. You may think it is a great idea or you may say, ‘What is he doing now?’
“But I think this place should become a destination, a place to visit.”
As he foresees it, the out buildings and steel buildings would be taken down, leaving only the old brick buildings. “They are pretty nice looking. They are strong buildings. I would like to see that turned into an artist’s colony. Lofts on the upper floors and on the lower floors shops and boutiques with an alley through it from the parking lots on the south side. There is a big view over the river.
“Meadow Street, which we would then abandon, would be turned over to that facility for use — maybe for an outdoor amphitheatre, or whatever you might want out there. I think it could be very exciting and I think with the right architects it would be an interesting thing to see. The people we talk to think it could possibly happen.
“Why should the town be involved? Because the town probably has a better chance of getting it cleaned up than does a private contractor or developer. We would work together with them to get brownfield funds that would be out there. And if we could create enough jobs to do this thing it certainly would qualify.” The term “brownfield” applies to those sites whose future development may be complicated by the presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.
DaRos said the environmental clean up funds “will travel with the land. It will probably cost more. We will work with anybody who will go in there. It is for our own benefit to do something like that. No question about it. The town should be part of the development, whatever it is.”
He said the one thing he didn’t want to see happen was for the Atlantic Wire building to sit idle for thirty years as had the nearby Malleable Iron Fittings Company (MIF) buildings, once one of the town’s chief manufacturers.
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