Politics & Government

Board of Directors Hears Demolition Plan for Broad Street Parkade

The demolition may not come as quick as some in town might hope.

The Board of Directors heard a report on the steps needed to demolish the as part of its policy briefing meeting Tuesday morning, although board members fretted that the public may expect the demolition process to proceed much quicker than it actually will.

The board of the dilapidated 19-acre parcel from its private owners in early March, which included a large, vacant building that once housed several retail chains. The town purchased the building knowing that it contained asbestos and PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, both classified toxins, and that it would take an estimated $1.9 million to $2.3 million to demolish the structures and remediate the site.

But Tuesday the board heard from town officials just how many steps remained before the actual demolition of the buildings themselves could begin, and exactly how long that process was expected to take.

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General Manager Scott Shanley said the town was still preparing its application to the Environmental Protection Agency for a permit to remove the PCBs from the structure, which was expected to be submitted by the end of next week at the latest. From there, the town would await the EPA’s approval of its permit, which Shanley said could take as long as three months, and begin to solicit bids for the demolition project.

“That’s really been, and continues to be, the driving schedule on the demolition process,” Shanley said of the EPA’s approval.

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Once all the PCBs were cleared out, the town would then have to clean the building of asbestos, which Director of Public Works/Town Engineer Mark Carlino said could take another three months.

Carlino said that, based on the amount of environmental cleanup the site needed, demolition of the actual buildings probably would not begin until next spring or summer.

“That’s probably the last thing that happens, is the building comes down, because everything has to be taken out before you can take the buildings down,” said Shanley.

And then the town would have to decide what it wanted to do with the site once it was cleared of environmental hazards and all buildings, which raises an entirely different set of questions.

The Manchester Redevelopment Agency, the committee that is spearheading the effort to revitalize the Broad Street area of town and redevelop the parkade, presented the Board of Directors with a written list of objectives it hoped to achieve with the parkade and potential steps it would like to see the town take after the demolition.

The agency’s objectives are to:

  • “To demolish and remove all buildings, foundations and sidewalks currently on the site and remove the pavement between the foundations and Bigelow Brook (baseline work).”
  • “To minimize the town’s site maintenance costs during the interim between demolition and redevelopment.”
  • “To limit the use or programming of the site, keeping in mind the goal of the town and the agency is to redevelop the site according to the Broad Street Redevelopment Plan.”

The agency also offered five possible alternatives they felt the town could take to accomplish these goals, although it did not specify a recommendation.

The first would see the removal of “all pavement within 100 feet of Broad Street along the entire Parkade property frontage” and the construction of a “temporary pocket park” that would include a kiosk and information on future plans for the site

The second suggested alternative would essentially be the same as the first, only 200 feet of pavement would be removed from Broad Street to the American Eagle Credit Union.

The third scenario would see the removal of “all pavement between the existing Parkade buildings and Green Manor Blvd. east of the primary entrance from Green Manor. Seed the area and plant trees to create a visual buffer between Broad Street and the demolition site.”

The fourth option would leave all pavement on site and construct a series of three-foot tall berms around the property to mask the demolition.

And the fifth suggestion was the removal of all pavement on the parkade and the seeding and maintenance of the ground.

Carlino cautioned against removing all pavement from the parkade, because the town planned to use the site as a staging area as it reconstructed that section of Broad Street. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced last week that he intended to place on state Bond Commission’s agenda, which will meet on Friday to likely approve the request.

Carlino and Shanley praised the state funding, which they said would help build momentum for the entire redevelopment effort, but also noted that it further complicated the demolition of the parkade, because those are two projects that could run concurrently.

“The governor’s announcement last week has changed this dramatically,” Carlino said.

Carlino was hesitant to provide a timetable for the Broad Street reconstruction, because it hinged largely on the state funding, but he said that all the necessary permits for the project had been secured and if the bond money was approved the reconstruction would likely get underway next spring.

Jay Moran, a Democratic member of the Board of Directors, said he was concerned that the parkade would be left in an as equally unappealing state after the demolition, with no timetable for when a private developer might purchase and redevelop the property.

“We don’t know how long it’s going to take to turn this around…why don’t we just plant grass there and make the whole thing look different,” Moran said. “To just leave it there and have it look ugly, I don’t think we’re accomplishing anything.”

But Shanley said that if residents got used to the area as an open field, possibly for recreation, when a private developer did express interest in the property some people in town might then be hesitant to let it go.

“An attractive parkland and open space will perhaps make it less desirable for a private developer to come in, because you’ll have a built in opposition in place,” he said.

Shanley said the goal of the redevelopment agency was not to make the parkade attractive for the community after demolition, “their goal is to make it attractive for sale.”

The board also discussed its trash disposal contract with the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority, which is due to expire in November of 2012, and options to renew its agreement with the state’s largest trash disposal agency or shop around for a more attractive offer. 


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