HOUSING & INFRASTRUCTURE

Up Around The Bend

Middletown looks to riverfront once again

It’s hard to forget that our state was named after the river that runs through it – the word Connecticut is a Mohegan-Pequot word for “long tidal river.” From before there were settlers, there was infrastructure along the river that aided trade and commerce. Through to 2022, towns and cities are trying to build out infrastructure to take advantage of this natural feature, and Middletown has set forth plans to take advantage of their lot.

In a project called Return to the Riverbend, the City of Middletown is looking to revitalize the riverbend area, which they have broken down into four separate districts, Riverside, Sumner Brook, Hillside, and the South End.

Covering over 200-acres, the area currently includes “various industrial, residential, open space, and undeveloped sites that offer great opportunities for future development, recreation, and open space.” This includes the already extant Harbor Park, as well as a former wastewater treatment plant and hospital.

According to their Master Plan, available on their website, the process built upon work that had already been completed in 2014, 2019, and 2021, including their Plan of Conservation & Development. This meant that they had a head start when asking the public and experts on what could be done in this area. Overall, they collected more than 1,200 comments from hundreds of stakeholders that helped guide their thinking.

And the conclusion that they reached was guided by two conditions cited in the master plan document:

1. There must be attractions and/or public amenities that people want to visit.

2. There must be direct, safe, and attractive physical connections between the adjacent neighborhoods and the waterfront.

To accomplish this, they will consider adding four-season parks, public docks, and a new cultural and entertainment hub where people can see bands while relaxing near the river.

Of course, to support this, they are going to need to bring in partners like restaurants, retail, and other private enterprises that will bolster these new districts. In order to reach that goal, the city’s “immediate next step” is to change their land-use policy to foster this kind of new environment they and their residents are envisioning. Once those get rolling – they can start attracting the kind of businesses they need to get back to the riverbend.

One of the most important pieces of the area is the memorial monument to the Wangunk people who made an early mark on the Connecticut River. It is likely that for many hundreds of years, the Connecticut River was a natural resource and local economic hotspot. In 2022 and beyond it will remain so.