BY ANDREAS YILMA
CITIZENS NEWS
NAUGATUCK – The Board of Mayor and Burgesses on March 21 approved the final design for the downtown major hub development project.
The design includes a new pedestrian corridor from Church Street to Old Firehouse Road that will cut in between the parking lot and Calvary Chapel Naugatuck, which are in between those two roads.
The pedestrian corridor, which will have crisscross lighting, will nearly line up with Park Place on one end and with the proposed new connector road that will divide Parcel B into two phases of development.
“A big part of the project and the heart of the project is this corridor that we’re creating from Church Street connecting to the rail station and really connecting to Parcels A and B,” said Michael Cegan of Richter & Cegan, the landscape architects.
“It’s connecting the old historic to the new development area. So this connection is really important to the project and to both downtown projects,” Cegan said.
The design also includes two metal gateway arches on the Church Street and Old Firehouse Road sides that will read “Downtown Naugatuck,” the same type of metal paneling with designs of trees, tree branches and grass to screen the pedestrian corridor from the parking lot and a raised brick intersection at the intersection of the connector road and pedestrian corridor on Old Firehouse Road.
Also, Water Street Extension would be developed across the proposed train station to Parcel A and Rubber Avenue and a raised pedestrian island with brick, raised curb ends and plantings at the intersection of Rubber Ave, Old Firehouse Road and Elm Street and walkways both sides of the Water Street to the rail station and the storm-water pump station demolition on Parcel B.
The total project is estimated to cost about $10 million.
Funding for the project includes $6 million from the Connecticut Community Challenge Grant and $4 million from the Tax Increment Financing funds, Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess said.
Project Manager Nick Keenan of Kleinfelder Northeast, said they will move to bid out the project in April and expect to award the project in June with construction starting in July and finishing in July 2025.
The state Department of Transportation will look to go out to bid in late 2024 for the new train station before construction in 2025, Hess said.
The state DOT also has allocated funding for the relocation of the Naugatuck train station from Water Street near The Station Restaurant to a section of Parcel B.
“I don’t think people have any idea how many moving parts there are in one project, never mind when you’re putting four projects into one,” Hess said.
