Redding Scores $200K Grant Targeting Wire Mill Brownfield

REDDING, CT — The state has awarded the Town of Redding a $200,000 planning grant for the comprehensive planning of the Georgetown Neighborhood with a goal to revitalize and redevelop the former Gilbert and Bennet Wire Mill brownfield site.

The funding, announced last week, is among a series of state grants totaling $26.3 million that will be used to support the remediation and redevelopment of 130 acres of contaminated land throughout Connecticut, consisting of 22 properties located in 17 towns and cities.

The grants are being released through the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development’s Brownfield Remediation and Development Program. These state investments are expected to leverage approximately $112.7 million in private investments, according to a statement from Gov. Ned Lamont's Office.

This comes just weeks after Redding leaders celebrated a federal Environmental Protection Agency brownfields cleanup grant valued at nearly $2 million for the same site, a 44-acre property that has not been in operation for decades and could provide important resources to the local community.

"All of this support, including this most recent grant, provide Redding with the resources necessary to truly support its residents and redevelop this site for purposes including housing, business or outdoor recreation," state Sen. Ceci Maher said in a news release. "I'm grateful that Redding is continuing to work toward these significant improvements."

The selected projects will boost economic development and job growth, as well as aid in the development of new housing. In total, the projects are expected to create approximately 1,285 jobs and 373 units of housing, including 148 affordable units, according to Lamont's Office. Approximately 58 percent of the overall funding is being awarded to projects in distressed municipalities.

"Nobody wants to have old, polluted, and blighted properties in their neighborhood that sit vacant for decades, especially when that land could be used to grow new businesses and create housing for people who need it," Lamont said. "This state program enables us to partner with municipalities and developers to bring these lifeless properties back from the dead."