Full Speed Ahead for Broad Street Redevelopment in New Year

Residents and visitors to Manchester alike have been saying for years that the Broad Street area of town needs a shot in the arm. 

Well, slowly, but steadily, plans have been quietly put in place over the last few years to provide just that to the area - and many of those plans finally appear poised to come to fruition in 2012. 

First up is the demolition of the blighted, dilapidated property, a once-bustling strip mall that sits on 19-acres of vacant land in the heart of the Broad Street area that has not been occupied in some years. Eagle-eyed motorists or pedestrians might have noticed earlier this summer when the once prominent Bradlees sign in front of the property had been torn down, but by next June almost everyone should notice when the parked property itself is finally demolished. 

Public Works Director Mark Carlino said the town has selected on the demolition project, Costello Dismantling Company out of Middleboro, which estimated it could demolish the parkade for $566,150, and that if the project is completed according to its estimates it will save the town more than a $1 million. Carlino said Costello Dismantling has indicted it plans to begin some of the demolition work over the winter, but still needs to receive Environmental Protection Agency approval for the removal of PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, from inside.

Carlino said the contract stipulates that the demolition work be completed by mid-June of next year. The town has also spent approximately $590,000 removing other hazardous materials, such as asbestos, from inside the parkade. 

While the demolition work is progressing next spring, the town and the state of Connecticut will also begin work on . That project is being financed through a $3 million bond from the state and $2 million from an $8 million bond package Manchester residents approved through referendum in November of 2009 in an attempt to revitalized the Broad Street area. 

General Manager Scott Shanley said a contractor for that work has also been selected, and that the contractor is ready to begin the work in the spring. Shanley said that project is expected to take two years to complete, since much of the work can only be done in the spring and summer months. 

In another positive sign of momentum for the redevelopment project, Shanley said a foreclosure sale for the lots at 295, 299, and 303 Broad St., known as the Nichols properties and located directly across the street from the parked, has been scheduled for Jan. 14 and should make the area more attractive to potential developers. The Nichols family have not paid taxes on the properties since August of 2008 and currently owe the town more than $190,000 in back taxes; like the parkade itself, the properties have fallen into disrepair. 

Work is also progressing on design schematics to expand and link Center Springs Park to Broad Street, according to Senior Planner Gary Anderson, as well as the establishment of new zoning regulations that will make the Broad Street area more attractive to developers seeking to construct the sort of mixed-use development the town and the Manchester Redevelopment Agency have selected as the desired option for the parkade property. Anderson said the Manchester-based engineering firm of , while a public hearing to vet and likely approve the amendmened zoning regulations should be scheduled sometime in the next few months. 

One thing is for certain, though, after years of inaction, this time next year the Broad Street area of town could finally look remarkably different than it does now – with a revamped streetscape, new and more attentive owners for one vacant property, and the demolition of another large and noticeably unattractive property on the street. 

"I think every time we do something it improves the area, and hopefully that will make it easier to find a developer," said Timothy Devanney, the owner of Highland Park Market who chairs the redevelopment agency that has been tasked with advancing the Broad Street redevelopment project. "All those things are going to give it quite a bit more value for us down the road. That's really what we're hoping for."