Ex-Factory Demo Could Begin In 30 Days

Science Park’s redevelopers have selected a demolition contractor — and have applied for a relevant city permit — as they move forward with plans to start knocking down the remaining vacant, toxic former Winchester Repeating Arms factory buildings this summer.

Representatives from Science Park Development Corporation and LMXD announced the latest with that demolition plan during a community meeting Thursday at the Winchester Works lab/office building at 115 Munson St.

They said the ex-factory teardown is expected to begin within the next 30 days, although the timeline is contingent on final city approval of the demolition permit filed by Stamford Wrecking. Demolition should take a year in total to complete.

This announcement marks a step forward in the site redevelopment process, following the 2020 decision to demolish the historical buildings after environmental assessments found that the presence of asbestos, PCBs, lead, and other contaminants made renovation unfeasible. 

Thursday’s meeting — held as a follow-up to the one hosted in early May—drew an audience of approximately 50 attendees, including residents of the Winchester Lofts apartments complex and other surrounding communities. It was led by Science Park Development Corporation CEO David Silverstone, LMXD Managing Partner Jake Pine, and InnoConn Construction Management Vice President Drew Nelli.

The meeting took place in what was once an around-the-clock mini-city composed of factories with tens of thousands of people turning out Winchester rifles — and that has become an emerging 21st century upscale urban living and tech hub.

While final decisions have yet to be made about what will replace the demolished buildings, within the terms of their state grant, Science Park Development Corporation has six years from the contract signing in December 2024 to put up no less than 100 units of housing, at least 20 percent of which must be affordable, or at least 100,000 square feet of life science labs or commercial space.

As demolition moves forward, project representatives promised continued updates and to maintain open communication with the community. The work will begin with the wood and brick buildings closest to Highville Charter School at 1 Science Park while students are out of session, and then continue clockwise throughout the fall and winter, concluding with the structures along Munson Street.

Jamie Barr, a licensed environmental professional through the State of Connecticut and principal at Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, led a detailed presentation Thursday outlining the procedures planned to ensure safety during demolition. Barr, along with Silverstone, emphasized that the contaminants would all be managed in line with state and federal safety regulations, with dust suppression techniques using water cannons, air quality monitoring, and sealed removal techniques all in place.

“The good news is that this is not the first rodeo for any of these people,” Silverstone said. ​“The last 15 months or so, this team has taken down [other smaller dilapidated buildings at the ex-factory complex] and we are not aware of any complaints.”

Even before demolition begins, Barr stated, there will be environmental monitors and trained professionals on-site to inspect the building scheduled for demolition. Any contaminants identified will be contained and then removed using two established trucking routes, which are also being used for other construction projects in the area. Following demolition, a secondary inspection will be conducted to ensure all hazardous materials were properly addressed. 

Throughout the entire process, there will be highly sensitive contamination level monitors on-site. ​“Ninety-five percent of the time [they’re triggered] on large sites is because there was a car or a construction worker walked by and kicked up some dust,” Barr said. ​“We’re able to address it within a couple of minutes.”

In response to an audience question about whether there were any ​“unusual” contaminants present at the site, Barr clarified that none had been found in the building, but it would require demolition to see if there was anything present in the ground beneath.

Residents raised questions over the course of Thursday’s meeting about how the construction would impact their day-to-day life, with concerns particularly about the possibility of contaminants escaping from the site, environmental and governmental oversight and accountability for the project, and impact on building and parking lot access for Winchester Lofts, which is right next door to the planned demolition site.

“You can run down a list of how reassurances have been made, and people who have then had to pay, sometimes with their lives or cancer,” one Winchester Lofts resident stated, citing in particular the infamous 1977 Love Canal case in Niagara, New York. ​“That’s why we’re here.”

Accountability and transparency were major themes throughout the meeting. Several other attendees expressed their wish to have the contamination level data be made publicly available online. Pine committed to make the presentation from the meeting available, as well as links to public reports and environmental data related to the site.

Silverstone also emphasized that the hiring of Langan Engineering serves as a third-party accountability for the project. Barr said that, according to the terms of the Brownfield Municipal Grant program, the project must report back to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the state Department of Economic Community Development (DECD).

The total funding for this demolition project adds up to $10.8 million, with $4 million coming from the Brownfield grants and $6.8 million through the state’s Urban Sites Remedial Action Program. Silverstone stated that he does not anticipate any impact from cuts to funding at the federal level.