MARC fetes long-awaited opening

MIDDLETOWN — Two years ago, eight months before the country went into lockdown due to the pandemic, MARC Community Resources bought a new 38,000-square-foot building at 25 Industrial Park Rd. The purchase was a milestone in the organization’s 65-year history, according to a press release.

Discussion over the future location and facility that provides programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities had begun five years prior.

Opening day, July 29, was a year almost to the date after a canceled grand opening. Middletown Mayor Ben Florsheim, and state Sen. Matt Lesser and state Rep. Quentin Phipps, Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce President Larry McHugh, the MARC board of directors and others ceremoniously cut the ribbon. The partners on the project included Eversource, Energy Resource, People’s United Bank, Rosa & Hibbard Architects, One Development, Attorney George Law, Guy Neumann Construction and Fusion Cable Systems.

“It was a bittersweet day for MARC,” an announcement said, as it was CEO Linda Iovanna’s last day. She is credited for having the drive and vision to attain the new facility, the announcement said.

The event included tours of the new facility and the spaces were laid out to help attendees visualize the participants day-to-day activities. The areas include a music and motion room, art room, work activities area, and large spaces for physical activities like yoga and dance. The building gave them the space for social distancing throughout the pandemic.