Brookfield, Torrington Receive Grants To Demolish Blighted Properties

For years I wondered about the abandoned property at 20 Station Road in Brookfield. There has been tremendous change and a lot of progress all around the Four Corners, but this abandoned, beat up property has always been an eye sore. Your days are numbered 20 Station Road, Brookfield, thanks to a grant from good ol' Connecticut.

Get our free mobile app

Governor Lamont announced that his administration is releasing $24.6 million dollars in sweet state cash to help clean up 41 blighted properties around Connecticut, and Brookfield is going to receive $1,207,938 of that in order to get rid of the contaminated soil, and demolish the former dry cleaning business. According to brookfieldct.gov, the dry cleaning business operated on the 2.3 acre site in the 1960s and 70s, and was condemned over a decade ago in 2011. The CT DEEP found PCE in the soil and water on the property in 1998.

This has been an issue for years for Brookfield, but finally, funding has been secured in order to remediate the contaminated soil, demolish the existing building, and start construction on a three-story apartment building that will be built by Brookfield Village Station Road, LLC.

My hometown of Torrington is also receiving a chunk of that 24 mil, in order to fix up a part of downtown that I think is really going to make Torrington shine. The 3.5 acre Hotchkiss & Sons Saw Mill Buildings will be abated and demolished to the tune of $1.5 million Connecticut dollars, and Torrington Mayor Elinor Carbone just released an artist's rendering of the vision for the redevelopment of the corner of Water and Church Streets on her social media. Good news all around this morning.