The Middletown you missed

With so many parents, family and friends of grads in Middletown this weekend, not to mention the several thousand more expected to be around Sunday morning, you might be looking for something to do that's off-the-beaten track. Middletown, after all, is 42 square miles, and likely you've only seen a couple of those miles in your time here. It's not too late.

Henry Clay Work House.
You'll find a bust of this relatively unknown songwriter of the Civil War era, appropriately enough, in Union Park on the South end of Main St. The composer of such classics as Grandfather's Clock, and Marching Through Georgia was born in Middletown but lived much of his life elsewhere. A printer by occupation, Work came to songwriting by avocation. Biggest little known fact: the tune of his song, The Ship That Never Returned was used for the classic country music song (in fact the first million selling record, ever), The Wreck of the Old 97, recorded by artists as diverse as Vernon Dalhart and Johnny Cash. The same tune was used for a hit song of the sixties, M.T.A. by the Kingston Trio. The Henry Clay Work house still stands on Mill Street.

Maromas
A hotly debated section of town for many years. Recently, it's been in the news because a new gas-fired energy plant is being built there, and because the Army has proposed building an Army Reserve Training Center there. This Southeastern corner of Middletown (a section as large as neighboring Cromwell), is mostly wild, rugged and beautiful as it hugs a broad turn in the Connecticut River. It's eminently hikable, and if you're lucky you stumble on the rock shelter that was used by native Americans, and in the 19th century by the famous hobo, the Old Leatherman, who was made famous most recently in a Pearl Jam song, and will soon get new acclaim in a to-be-released volume published by the Wesleyan Press.

The Insane Asylum


The other institution on a hill in town is located to the East of Wesleyan, and visible from there. It's the hospital currently known to locals as CVH. Connecticut Valley constitutes the only state hospital dealing exclusively with mental health issues in the state. It's a huge campus, and the older, unoccupied buildings are a frightening example of "insane asylum" red brick Victorian architecture. But don't take any pictures, because you might get arrested.





The Blog Prototype


Middletown artist David Schulz live on Ridge Road, and since George Bush occupied the White House, he's been creating editorials, Burma-Shave style, on his front lawn. This makeshift editorials are short, punchy and briliant, as might be expected from one of Middletown's finest art talents. When I stopped to take the photos today, Dave told me that he's had relatively few protests. "Last week," he said. "A guy in a pickup slowed down when I was in the front yard and yelled, 'Those signs suck.' So I guess they're doing their job.












An Authentic Italian Meal and Dessert
As you leave Middletown, you'll know you're beyond city limits when you stop passing an Italian restaurant or a pizza joint every 300 yards. While in town you may have visited the famous Main Street joints, but a hidden gem is right around the corner on Court Street. In the basement of the Italian Society club is the Cantina. Short on atmosphere, the restaurant serves what many feel are the best Italian dishes in town. Combine this with the chance to rub elbows with local politicos, or even a made man or two. For dessert, head down to deKoven Drive for the kind of Italian ice that's been pulling passing customers on Route 9 for decades into the tiny driveway at Vecchitto's.

Fucking up the river

The following came in as an anonymous comment to my blog about the Army Corps of Engineer's projected plans to build a training center on River Road - a site suggested by the city.

It's so well written, and well thought-out that I wanted to elevate it to a full-fledged blog post:

The vertiginous terrain has caused severe problems at the nearby Kleen Energy construction site, with erosion visibly pouring into the Connecticut River. These problems would be increased with the addition of an Army base which will require parking for 1,000 cars on a busy weekend. The Army deserves a good site for the new facility. A site perched high above the Connecticut River adjacent to a unique, vast, undeveloped forestland offering priceless panoramic views is not a good choice for an Army base. Not only is it a logically bad choice on account of two messes being worse than one mess, but these two messes would be sure to multiply exponentially if the City continues to pursue its stated course of self-destructive planning. First the City seriously injured itself by approving Kleen Energy, now it appears eager to inflict a mortal wound by encouraging "light" industry along its undeveloped Connecticut River water frontage. What would constitute "heavy" industry , parking lots the size of the Mojave Desert? Hello? Would "sensitive" development be right for the steep slopes of the Grand Canyon? I don't think so. Wake up Middletown! Treasure this beautiful part of the City and work to preserve and protect it for generations to come.

The army prepares to invade Maromas again

The Hartford Courant reports this morning that the Army Corps of Engineers appears to be looking at another site in Maromas to build its Army Reserve Training Center. This site is one that was recommended by the city, on property currently owned by CL&P, and on or adjacent to a former feldspar mine.

Come on. Residents showed up in force to protest the last proposal to build a massive site in Maromas, which will include pouring acres of blacktop. What's with the city, and the Army?

I understand that the city sees these parcels as fair industrial development plots. Call me crazy but why are city fathers so eager to have additional industrial development poured on what they admit is a unique slice of wilderness in Central Connecticut. To give them some credit, city planners are working to reserving a vast corridor of Maromas as "open space." However, those same planners seem reluctant to pursue open space acreage along the riverfront (which, duh, is prime, open space, recreational land).

Forgive me if I sound like I trust neither city planners nor the Army, because I don't. In the end, the city gets nothing for this development. No taxes. No addition to the grand list. More traffic on a sensitive roadway. How does the city see this fitting in to the plan of development currently being revised? Does it help the problems of crime and poverty downtown? Does it create incentives for retail development downtown, or in specified areas? Does it attract the kind of industry which will help Middletown? Does it make the schools better? I don't think there's a "yes" answer among those questions.

We need to suggest the Army build on a brownfield, or send them packing. This is an unwanted and unnecessary development, and I can only hope that our citizens will be out in legion at the June 10 meeting when the Army unveils its plans again.

Maromas profile in Press

Middletown Press reporter hiked Maromas with John LeShane, and has written about it in the Press yesterday.

This kind of profile helps establish the fact that the character of a town is drawn by a combination of its developed and non-developed spaces. The wisdom to maintain this balance frequently escapes those who carry the Grand List as the most important priority in mind.

Army reverses on Freeman Road

The Middletown Press reports today that the Army Corps of Engineeers has de-prioritized the Freeman Road site for their Army Reserve Training Center.

The Press headline indicates: Maromas no longer "priority site" for military.

However, in the body of the story they indicate that a site on River Road, presented by town planner Bill Warner, which is likely a preferred site, is actually in Maromas. At the bottom of the story, Freeman Road residents point out that fact, having submitted several suggested sites of their own.

The Army's back for more, sir

Thursday, the Army will once again make an appearance at Middletown's City Hall to present, one would hope, alternative choices for the Army Reserve Training Center, most recently proposed for a site on Freeman Road. The dog and pony show begins at 7. A good turnout will keep the Army on its toes. No early indications about which site they've chosen, but a great letter from a Freeman Road resident appeared in Sunday's Middletown Press:

It seems that being a part of the federal bureaucracy means you never have to say you're sorry. Just about everybody in town agrees that the Department of the Army made a bad decision about planning a military facility for the Freeman Road meadow and woods. Instead of acknowledging that the decision was flawed both in its process and in its conclusion, the Army put on an arrogant performance two weeks ago at a public meeting here and stubbornly maintained that the Freeman Road plan was a good one.

Spending taxpayers' money to bring several persons involved in the planning to Middletown and flanking them with soldiers dressed in fatigues, the Army PR person, designated as a Project Manager, ignored logic and facts to insist that Freeman Road is a suitable site. As one member of the overflow audience commented, "Couldn't the Department of Defense have used the money (for the presentation) a lot better in Iraq?" And the Army still will only say that they will "consider other possibilities." They are planning to return to Middletown soon, possibly with a similar road show, to announce their current choice for a site. It may not be Freeman Road, but they may well covet another site in Maromas.

There still are some in town who don't understand that the objection to the Army's plan is not simply a matter of residents not wanting a big military base in their backyard. At the meeting, over 200 citizens from all parts of the city demonstrated their strenuous objection to the destruction of open space in any part of Maromas. It seems to me that the persons who prize commercial development above everything else are the ones pursuing selfish agendas. Those who would start the domino of commercializing Maromas are salivating over the presumed benefit of short-term jobs. But for Middletown to prosper in the long-term, it must remain an attractive place for people to live. Replacing open land in Maromas with sprawl is not the way to do this.

Paul Torop
Freeman Road

Epistle from Rosa

Apparently Rosa Delauro has gotten the message that Middletown residents don't want an Army Reserve Training Center built on pristine open space in Maromas. So, she's sent a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers to ask them to consider using brownfield sites instead of untouched fields and forests.

I'm still waiting to hear back from Delauro's office, but it's good to know, that whatever her motivation, she's pushing back at the Army.

Rescheduled meeting on proposed Army training base, Thursday

The informational meeting about the proposed Army Reserve training center in Maromas, which was postponed last week due to the snowstorm, has been rescheduled for Thursday, January 24, 5 pm in the Common Council Chambers at City Hall, Middletown.

My sources tell me that the procedures for running the meeting have not been set (it's not a Common Council meeting), but that the main portion of the meeting is to allow the army to present its plans. Whether comments or questions from residents will be allowed has not been made public.

Meeting on military base postponed

Because of the "giant" snowstorm, the meeting on the location of the proposed military reserve training base has been postponed.

Dear Citizens:

Due to the impending winter storm the Armed Forces Reserve Center
informational session scheduled for 5 PM Mon day January 14 has been
cancelled.

The Army has pledged to reschedule the meeting in the next
several days in its entirety at the earliest convenience

The City will post this cancellation to Channel 19 Public Access.

Thank You,
Geen Thazhampallath
Mayor's Aide

More people thinking about the proposed military base in Maromas

Bye bye Maromas

I was sitting, waiting for the final WESU training session to begin, when I asked David Bauer, who was sitting next to me, and is host of the Bauer Hour on WESU (Monday, 4pm), and a town council member, what he thought of the plan to build an Army Reserve Training Center in Middletown.

"I'm a big Maromas person," Bauer said, referring to the wild Southeastern tract of hilly land that fronts the Connecticut River in Middletown. "Once they put sewer and water out there, it will open development all along that corridor, and a lot of open space will be consumed."

He also indicated that the published plan of development for Middletown does not include running sewer and water along that particular corridor.

When I first read of the plans for the Army Reserve base, I was skeptical. First of all, people in town who were saying "it's great for Middletown," seem to be the people I trust least on the issue. It's being sold as a job generator, and a boon for development. Well, it will create 150 jobs, and that, likely is a good thing. But that has to be balanced against the fact that no tax dollars will be accrued (it will be federal property, and thereby exempt from taxation), yet plenty of infrastructure dollars will eventually have to be spent attending to routine maintenance of that corridor. And, in general (no pun intended), I'm not an advocate of expanding the military industrial complex.

In terms of the kind of development to expect, I've been to a few "base towns" and my first impression is that the kind of businesses that spring up around military bases are fast food restaurants, discount stores, liquor stores, cheap apartments and, as one town official euphemistically put it, "nightspots" (it's kind of like calling a lap-dance "physical therapy.")

So the questions remain; does the city even have the right to say "no" to the feds, even if we had the will to reject them?; is this the kind of development that's right for Middletown?; how will this particular development affect the rugged open space of Maromas, and how will it influence even more development of Middletown's wild corner?; does Middletown need one more giant tax-exempt property when we are swamped with state hospitals, and correction facilities?; what control would the city have over development on a federal site?; and, will the town pursue one more short-term development plan without fully considering the long-term effects of the development?

Likely no one has the answers to any of these questions yet, but it would be great to know that our city leaders were at least considering them. An army base is not a Whole Foods or a Blue Back Square. Not many folks, excepting the military staff training there, are going to decide to live in, or visit Middletown because it's home to an Army Reserve Base.