New London To Receive $1.19 Million For Community Center

NEW LONDON, CT — The state has awarded $17.9 million in grants to 13 municipalities to remediate 40 blighted properties for the purpose of putting them back into productive use, according to a statement from Gov. Ned Lamont. Included is $1,199,673 to assess and remediate 24 parcels located on Walbach Street and Goshen Street in New London, a portion of which was occupied by the former Naval Undersea Warfare Center.

The city is planning to construct a community recreation center adjacent to historic Fort Trumbull State Park on the 7.19-acre site.

The grants are from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development’s Brownfield Remediation Program. They are expected to leverage $427 million in private funding and will help in the investigation and clean-up of approximately 78 acres of land.

“Cleaning up blighted properties that have been vacant for decades and putting them into productive use will ultimately generate back many more times the amount of these grants through private investments,” Lamont said in a statement. “If we remediate these properties now, we can turn an eyesore into an asset, revitalize neighborhoods, and transform otherwise unusable property into new space for businesses and residents.”