Meriden Receives $2.49M In State Grants For Remediation Projects

MERIDEN, CT — Meriden will receive $2.49 million in state grants for remediation projects at a historic mill complex site and the former home of the International Silver Company that was recently damaged in a fire, according to officials.

The grants are part of the $24.6 million in state funding Gov. Ned Lamont announced this week to help local communities with the costs associated with “assessing and remediating 41 blighted parcels of land in 16 towns and cities across Connecticut for the purposes of putting them back in to productive use,” according to a news release.

The grant and loan funding are from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development’s (DECD) Brownfield Remediation and Development Program. The state assistance is expected to leverage approximately $625 million in private funding and will help in the investigation and clean-up of approximately 86 acres of land.

“Cleaning up blighted properties that have been vacant for decades and putting them into productive use will ultimately generate private investment equal to many times these state grants,” 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.”

Read details on the projects below:

• Meriden: $1,490,000 grant to remediate and abate a 2.19-acre historic mill complex site, the former Aeolian Company, maker of player pianos, located at 85 Tremont Street. This will allow the creation of 82 units of mixed-income housing by Trinity Financials.
• Meriden: $2,000,000 grant for cleanup and demolition activities that is required prior to site redevelopment of 116 Cook Avenue, the former home of the International Silver Company that was recently damaged in a fire. The city will be marketing the site for future redevelopment.