New Haven Gets $2M To Demolish Winchester Repeating Arms Co. Site

NEW HAVEN, CT — Nearly $18 million in grants from the Lamont Administration are going to 13 towns and cities across Connecticut to help pay for the remediation of 40 "blighted parcels," it was announced Thursday.

New Haven is one of those cities.

Around $2 million will go to the Science Park Development Corporation to abate and demolish the former Winchester Repeating Arms Company buildings at 275 Winchester Ave. This allows for the construction of residential, office, laboratory space and/or retail buildings, and public open space on the 3.11-acre site, according to a news release.

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. “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.”

Brownfield Remediation Programs provide the "critical funding needed to clean up contaminated properties, attract additional private investment and catalyze redevelopment," Department of Economic and Community Development Deputy Commissioner Alexandra Daum said.

State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes said "removing pollution" opens the door for new land uses including "housing, mixed-use commercial and retail options, office and business space, and community recreation..."