Diana Stricker Photo
The U.S. Army Reserve is eyeing Branford as a possible site for a training facility that would be built along Route 1 on a portion of the former Bittersweet Farm property.
Architectural and engineering plans have been submitted to the town’s regulatory boards for review. The training facility would be built on 15 acres of property just past the town’s Transfer Station on East Main Street.
“They liked that site,” said First Selectman Anthony “Unk” DaRos. “They looked at many, many sites. They wanted something in central Connecticut along the shoreline.”
“I think it could be a real asset,” DaRos said. “It’s a positive thing and it could open up the east end for development.”
The property at 777 – 779 East Main St. is an 86-acre parcel owned by Bittersweet Partners LLC., a partnership between Al Secondino and Michael Belfonti. Secondino’s family has operated A. Secondino & Sons Inc. general contracting company in Branford since 1929.
Belfonti is president and CEO of Belfonti Associates in Hamden, a real estate development and investment company founded in 1980.
Shawn Morris, spokesman for the U.S. Army Reserve’s 99th Regional Support Command, told the Eagle that the project is in the early phases. “It’s still in the site selection stage,” Morris said. “They’re still looking at sites.”
Branford Town Planner Shirley Rasmussen said architectural plans were submitted to local commissions even though local zoning approval is not required for a federal project. Rasmussen said she was told the military looked at 70 sites in southern Connecticut, and then narrowed the choices down to three, one of which is Branford. The names of the other towns that were under consideration were not disclosed to local officials.
According to information from project engineer Dan Bowar, of EVS. Inc., of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, federal projects do not require local building permits, but he asked the local commissions to review the plans and offer comments. He said permits would be needed for sewers and utilities.
The company submitted a packet of information, including floor plans, site plans, and plans for lighting, landscaping, utilities and grading. Bowar indicated the center would have about 12 full-time employees, and that parking would be provided for 143 reservists to use the training facility on weekends.
DaRos said he was told that the center would include classrooms for mechanical and computer training, but would not be used for combat training.
Rasmussen said the plans include construction of an access road from East Main Street into the complex, rather than having direct access onto the roadway.
The actual project is referred to as the proposed Bridgeport Army Reserve Center, which is part of the Grow The Army program. “We’re growing and we need more space,” Morris said, adding that this facility would not replace another one.
Morris said construction of a new training center typically benefits both the local economy and the military. “It gives the soldiers a state-of-the-art facility,” he said. “It’s good for the community and the soldiers. That’s what the Reserve is all about — living and training in the communities.”
According to Morris, this project is not part of the nationwide Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program which closes older facilities and realigns them into a new center, like the one built in Middletown in 2011.
The military was considering combining the proposed Bridgeport area center with a BRAC construction project in Danbury, but decided to split the two projects. Groundbreaking for the Danbury/Newtown facility was held in July.
Morris said the facility under consideration for Branford would not be the size or scope of the Middletown or Danbury projects.
The project comes under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers since it is still in the initial stages. A spokeswoman for the department said meetings are being held on the proposal.
No one would confirm when a decision about site selection might be made.
The Bittersweet site was in the news last year when the owners presented a development proposal for that parcel and an adjoining 50-acre parcel which they also own. They were hoping to develop the combined parcels into a multi-use complex featuring a medical center, offices, residential units and a wholesale retail club, presumed to be Costco. However, those plans never materialized. Click here and here to read stories about those proposals.
The Bittersweet Farm property, which was once a chicken farm owned by the Wallace family, gained acclaim in the 1970s as an artist colony and craft village, featuring art studios and specialty shops.
In 2001, CuraGen Corp., a biotech pharmaceutical development firm, purchased the farm property and evicted about two dozen artists and shop owners. CuraGen planned to consolidate its Branford and New Haven facilities and build a 437,000 square-foot headquarters and research facility at Bittersweet Farm. The company received approvals for the project from Inland-Wetlands and the Planning and Zoning commissions, but construction never occurred.
In 2002, CuraGen announced that because of the economic climate, it was restructuring its business and laying off employees.
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