Developer Expresses Interest In Norwich Hospital Site
WFSB; Eyewitness News 3
Multimillion Dollar Movie Studio Deal Falls Through
PRESTON, Conn. -- With plans to build a multimillion-dollar movie studio theme park at the site of the old Norwich State Hospital now dead, town officials and developers are now deciding what will be done with the site.
The dream of Utopia Studios moving to Preston died last week when the studio's developers were unable to transfer money to town accounts by deadline.
The town of Preston now has a window of opportunity to buy the land from the state. In order for the state to approve the sale, Preston has to tell the state what its intentions are for the site, how it will pay to clean it up, and how a new development there will benefit Connecticut as a whole.
A week after the Utopia plan fell apart, another developer has expressed interest in the site. Northland Development, who built the new Hartford 21 tower, is interested in developing the site.
"Out of respect for the town of Preston and the process, we're going to reserve comment until the town determines how it would like to proceed," said a Northland representative. "Northland understands how important successful development of the former Norwich Hospital is to southeastern Connecticut and the state. We're excited about the opportunity to bring new jobs and vitality to the area, and posses the experience and resources to do so."
Preston's first selectman, Robert Congdon, said he received a letter last week from Northland and planned to read it aloud at a meeting of the Norwich Hospital Committee Wednesday night.
"They're (Northland Development) no doubt a quality developer with the financial capacity to do a project of this size. Having said that, we haven't started process and Utopia has the ability to request mediation," said Congdon.
Utopia's developers said that the town of Preston improperly terminated the development deal. The Norwich Hospital Committee was scheduled to discuss any correspondence received from Utopia at its meeting.
PRESTON, Conn. -- With plans to build a multimillion-dollar movie studio theme park at the site of the old Norwich State Hospital now dead, town officials and developers are now deciding what will be done with the site.
The dream of Utopia Studios moving to Preston died last week when the studio's developers were unable to transfer money to town accounts by deadline.
The town of Preston now has a window of opportunity to buy the land from the state. In order for the state to approve the sale, Preston has to tell the state what its intentions are for the site, how it will pay to clean it up, and how a new development there will benefit Connecticut as a whole.
A week after the Utopia plan fell apart, another developer has expressed interest in the site. Northland Development, who built the new Hartford 21 tower, is interested in developing the site.
"Out of respect for the town of Preston and the process, we're going to reserve comment until the town determines how it would like to proceed," said a Northland representative. "Northland understands how important successful development of the former Norwich Hospital is to southeastern Connecticut and the state. We're excited about the opportunity to bring new jobs and vitality to the area, and posses the experience and resources to do so."
Preston's first selectman, Robert Congdon, said he received a letter last week from Northland and planned to read it aloud at a meeting of the Norwich Hospital Committee Wednesday night.
"They're (Northland Development) no doubt a quality developer with the financial capacity to do a project of this size. Having said that, we haven't started process and Utopia has the ability to request mediation," said Congdon.
Utopia's developers said that the town of Preston improperly terminated the development deal. The Norwich Hospital Committee was scheduled to discuss any correspondence received from Utopia at its meeting.
This article was
published by WFSB; Eyewitness News 3
on Wednesday, November 29