It was a marvel for its time, 13 buildings, interconnected, the single largest factory building in the United States when Remington employed, at one point, 20,000 factory workers producing arms and munitions for the allied cause in World War I. General Electric, current owner of the vacant building on Boston Avenue, is scheduled to deconstruct the building starting in a few months. What to do there? Hey, wouldn't it be nice if Fairfield-based GE did something nice for the city? Let's see how this plays out.
0
16 comments
GE needs space and a location for its recently announced “largest solar panel manufacturing plant in the nation.” Bridgeport fits the bill perfectly … GE has the properly-zoned land (77 acres!) factory space (1.3. million sq. ft.), labor (70,000-strong local workforce–with excellent, local, training/skills upgrading facilities/schools), and local technological backup (nearby, world-class universities), all located in the same area–along with their world HQ … The only thing standing in their way is the FCBC/BRBC and the present city administration–see excerpt below from Keila Torres’ article in the 4/22 Connecticut Post (Internet edition):
Deconstruction of GE plant to begin soon
Keila Torres Ocasio, Staff Writer
Updated 10:31 p.m., Thursday, April 21, 2011
Page 1 of 1
BRIDGEPORT — Deconstruction of the sprawling Remington plant on Boston Avenue is set to begin soon.
General Electric obtained zoning permission in October to take down the 13 identical, interconnected buildings on the 77-acre property one segment at a time. The 95-year-old facility, which once employed more than 20,000 people, has been largely vacant for several years.
The work could begin by June and is expected to take just over a year. Residents of the area have been invited to visit the site Tuesday to get an overview of the project’s next steps. GE representatives will also be available to answer questions.
The power house will come down first. The main building will come down in segments, starting at the northernmost side and ending with the buildings closest to Boston Avenue.
Some of the brick and cement that makes up the building would be crushed and used to stuff the many holes, trenches and grooves on the factory grounds. The remaining crushed material would form a 10- to 12-foot-high retaining pile that would stretch three-tenths of a mile, keeping the foundation from eroding.
According to the city’s Office of Planning and Economic Development, once the plant is leveled long-discussed plans to extend Seaview Avenue would finally be feasible.
An extension of the street, which runs through about half the city and reaches its northernmost point just before the GE site, would provide access for a planned Lake Success Eco-Business Park on the DuPont-owned Remington Woods site behind the Remington plant.
According to OPED, the proposed 690,000-square-foot business park could bring approximately 1,200 new jobs to the city.
OBSERVATION
Bad call by OIB in making this the MJF RAH RAH blog.
There are the same few posters under a few different names and most people don’t even look at OIB anymore. Used to be the first thing I looked at in the a.m. Same with most people I’ve spoken with.
Got to agree. Case in point, Post does a great interview with Gomes and OIB runs a Republican switching to Democrat when the guy’s a friend of Foster’s husband. Of course he’s changing for one day. duh. OIB should’a posted the Gomes interview to at least look impartial.
I hate to be a S.O.B, but I guess Mr BPT must have gotten up late this morning 🙂 Maybe the Foster camp has done a better job of getting out their press releases than Mr. Gomes. Kohut is a smart man and tc is right about this Seaviewe pipe job of a dream by Paul Timpanelli and his band of yesteryear ideas.
My take on the BRBC and Paul “The Pimp” Timpanelli is they and he are motivated by making life better for folks who already have it pretty good. The “little people” are of secondary consideration. Sure, they’re responsible for some job creation but that is the result of working within the established order, of dealing with the self-proclaimed “masters” of our particular universe. Altruism has nothing to do with it.
CT Post did the interview, Grin, that’s a decent press release.
Look around you, there’s nobody posting on here except for a select few. All MJ fans. That is fine, she’s a great lady.
But not good for the blog business.
My OBSERVATION.
The one thing that the city’s OPED office is not telling anyone is the cost of reconfiguring the railroad overpass at Seaview and Crescent Ave. The Oped states the following “According to the city’s Office of Planning and Economic Development, once the plant is leveled long-discussed plans to extend Seaview Avenue would finally be feasible.”
They are not talking about the costs of reconfiguring this overpass. I know for a fact that as of 10 years ago the cost was $55 million. That figure is from meeting that have already been held on this subject. To me a $55 million price tag makes this project unfeasible.
At the recent budget hearings Eversley stated that it would be years before our portion of Remington Woods is properly remidiated.
Lets stop with the carrot and the stick the Remington Woods site is a pipe dream at the present time.
The most effective access to Remington Woods would be to come in from Broadbridge Ave–there is already an exit off Rte 8 just above Treeland–and you could utilize existing infrastructure to get there–if really needed could eminent domain to acquire a few properties that would immediately get you into the park–and Bpt doesn’t need to erode any more tax base by taking property off the tax rolls to widen Seaview Ave–there will be plenty of traffic at the I-95 Seaview Ave if Steelpointe does become reality.
What you say is true but the idea was to keep trucks off of major highways. More of Broadbridge Ave is in Stratford and I imagine they would have something to say about the increased truck traffic.
The majority of land on Seaview Ave is being used for construction yards or are vacant buildings between Grant St. and Boston Ave. The railroad bridge is and will be the stumbling block that stops this route.
I agree the RR bridge is a big issue–but a northern exit even if limited to cars would help–not everyone working in the park is going to be heading south–another example of lack of regional effort–maybe a toll for all non-Bridgeport residents entering and leaving the area would be a good idea–EZ Pass anyone?
The residents of Seaview Avenue are already choking on the dust stirred up by one of the construction companies over there. Mayor Finch, or more likely Adam “Pecker” Wood is apathetic to their plight.
It is my understanding negotiations between the town of Stratford and the developers of the Remington Arms property agreed there would be no additional entrance or exits onto Stratford roads. Give this some thought people. To develop this expansive project they need to have a northern access to Route 8. It is not feasible to travel back to I-95 to commute to & from this site.
tc,
This access might be coming down your street. Maybe you should sell your house & move to Black Rock. Property rates have plummeted, maybe you could be neighbors with MJF.
GE needs space and a location for its recently announced “largest solar panel manufacturing plant in the nation.” Bridgeport fits the bill perfectly … GE has the properly-zoned land (77 acres!) factory space (1.3. million sq. ft.), labor (70,000-strong local workforce–with excellent, local, training/skills upgrading facilities/schools), and local technological backup (nearby, world-class universities), all located in the same area–along with their world HQ … The only thing standing in their way is the FCBC/BRBC and the present city administration–see excerpt below from Keila Torres’ article in the 4/22 Connecticut Post (Internet edition):
Deconstruction of GE plant to begin soon
Keila Torres Ocasio, Staff Writer
Updated 10:31 p.m., Thursday, April 21, 2011
Page 1 of 1
BRIDGEPORT — Deconstruction of the sprawling Remington plant on Boston Avenue is set to begin soon.
General Electric obtained zoning permission in October to take down the 13 identical, interconnected buildings on the 77-acre property one segment at a time. The 95-year-old facility, which once employed more than 20,000 people, has been largely vacant for several years.
The work could begin by June and is expected to take just over a year. Residents of the area have been invited to visit the site Tuesday to get an overview of the project’s next steps. GE representatives will also be available to answer questions.
The power house will come down first. The main building will come down in segments, starting at the northernmost side and ending with the buildings closest to Boston Avenue.
Some of the brick and cement that makes up the building would be crushed and used to stuff the many holes, trenches and grooves on the factory grounds. The remaining crushed material would form a 10- to 12-foot-high retaining pile that would stretch three-tenths of a mile, keeping the foundation from eroding.
According to the city’s Office of Planning and Economic Development, once the plant is leveled long-discussed plans to extend Seaview Avenue would finally be feasible.
An extension of the street, which runs through about half the city and reaches its northernmost point just before the GE site, would provide access for a planned Lake Success Eco-Business Park on the DuPont-owned Remington Woods site behind the Remington plant.
According to OPED, the proposed 690,000-square-foot business park could bring approximately 1,200 new jobs to the city.
Reach Keila Torres Ocasio at ktorres@ctpost.com or 203-330-6321. Follow at twitter.com/ktorresbpt and facebook.com/ktorresbpt.
Read more: www .ctpost.com/local/article/Deconstruction-of-GE-plant-to-begin-soon-1347597.php
OBSERVATION
Bad call by OIB in making this the MJF RAH RAH blog.
There are the same few posters under a few different names and most people don’t even look at OIB anymore. Used to be the first thing I looked at in the a.m. Same with most people I’ve spoken with.
Got to agree. Case in point, Post does a great interview with Gomes and OIB runs a Republican switching to Democrat when the guy’s a friend of Foster’s husband. Of course he’s changing for one day. duh. OIB should’a posted the Gomes interview to at least look impartial.
I hate to be a S.O.B, but I guess Mr BPT must have gotten up late this morning 🙂 Maybe the Foster camp has done a better job of getting out their press releases than Mr. Gomes. Kohut is a smart man and tc is right about this Seaviewe pipe job of a dream by Paul Timpanelli and his band of yesteryear ideas.
Grin, you are right on the money. Flush Timpanelli has more than a BRBC interest in this project.
My take on the BRBC and Paul “The Pimp” Timpanelli is they and he are motivated by making life better for folks who already have it pretty good. The “little people” are of secondary consideration. Sure, they’re responsible for some job creation but that is the result of working within the established order, of dealing with the self-proclaimed “masters” of our particular universe. Altruism has nothing to do with it.
CT Post did the interview, Grin, that’s a decent press release.
Look around you, there’s nobody posting on here except for a select few. All MJ fans. That is fine, she’s a great lady.
But not good for the blog business.
My OBSERVATION.
This just in from CTCapitolReport.com
How green is Finch? Puts corn husks in trash; ‘We’re not perfect’ …
The one thing that the city’s OPED office is not telling anyone is the cost of reconfiguring the railroad overpass at Seaview and Crescent Ave. The Oped states the following “According to the city’s Office of Planning and Economic Development, once the plant is leveled long-discussed plans to extend Seaview Avenue would finally be feasible.”
They are not talking about the costs of reconfiguring this overpass. I know for a fact that as of 10 years ago the cost was $55 million. That figure is from meeting that have already been held on this subject. To me a $55 million price tag makes this project unfeasible.
At the recent budget hearings Eversley stated that it would be years before our portion of Remington Woods is properly remidiated.
Lets stop with the carrot and the stick the Remington Woods site is a pipe dream at the present time.
The most effective access to Remington Woods would be to come in from Broadbridge Ave–there is already an exit off Rte 8 just above Treeland–and you could utilize existing infrastructure to get there–if really needed could eminent domain to acquire a few properties that would immediately get you into the park–and Bpt doesn’t need to erode any more tax base by taking property off the tax rolls to widen Seaview Ave–there will be plenty of traffic at the I-95 Seaview Ave if Steelpointe does become reality.
What you say is true but the idea was to keep trucks off of major highways. More of Broadbridge Ave is in Stratford and I imagine they would have something to say about the increased truck traffic.
The majority of land on Seaview Ave is being used for construction yards or are vacant buildings between Grant St. and Boston Ave. The railroad bridge is and will be the stumbling block that stops this route.
I agree the RR bridge is a big issue–but a northern exit even if limited to cars would help–not everyone working in the park is going to be heading south–another example of lack of regional effort–maybe a toll for all non-Bridgeport residents entering and leaving the area would be a good idea–EZ Pass anyone?
The residents of Seaview Avenue are already choking on the dust stirred up by one of the construction companies over there. Mayor Finch, or more likely Adam “Pecker” Wood is apathetic to their plight.
Magic jelly beans, anyone?
It is my understanding negotiations between the town of Stratford and the developers of the Remington Arms property agreed there would be no additional entrance or exits onto Stratford roads. Give this some thought people. To develop this expansive project they need to have a northern access to Route 8. It is not feasible to travel back to I-95 to commute to & from this site.
tc,
This access might be coming down your street. Maybe you should sell your house & move to Black Rock. Property rates have plummeted, maybe you could be neighbors with MJF.
Anti: If I were to sell my house in this market I would probably get $1.98.
*** Whatever happens, let’s hope it’s after this year’s local mayoral elections, no? *** Don’t believe the political hype! ***