The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
MAD RIVER LOFTS REBORN
Bridge Street buildings’ owners envision varied business uses in spaces
WINSTED » The smaller building at 10 Bridge St. had become the habitat of birds, not people, when Marty Goldin and Mark Corbran first walked into it.
“It was creepy,” said Goldin “You’d walk in, the pigeons would fly over your head.”
Now, the Mad River Lofts is nearly complete.
The former mill building has become 16 loft and work spaces, designed to wed the past and the future in Winsted and lay the foundation for a burst of creativity.
The building has air conditioning, LED lighting and internet, set inside a building which closely resembles what has stood along the river in Winsted for more than a century. Maintaining the history of the building — what makes it, and by extension, the town, unique — was important, Goldin said Tuesday. It was constructed in 1880, according to town property records.
“The main shell of what you see on the roof and the walls — this was what was here originally,” said Corbran. “Even the floors — this is what’s been here for a hundred years.”
“This building’s been around a long time. It’s been around before (I was) alive; it’ll be around after I’m gone,” said Goldin. “So we put our little piece in it, but we’re demonstrating that we’re part of the past.”
Goldin’s company, XKL Capital, purchased the building in 2010, according to town property records. The intention was to sell it to more local actors, Goldin said — he’s from Brooklyn — but a lack of interest led him to develop the space.
He had experience with such projects, including in brownstones in Brooklyn, he said. He has affection for old buildings, but this was the first time he had taken on a project of this magnitude. Construction took about a year, Goldin and Corbran said Tuesday.
The loft spaces are flexible and there are opportunities for co-working, for example, and a common space for people to congregate. A technology company, Goldin said, could find a home there.
Their hope is to offer people a place to work and do business, Goldin said, while also fostering a spirit of community — both inside the building, and in the town as a whole.
“My intention is to have businesses. Creative people who want to create stuff — whatever that is,” said Goldin. “The idea is to create an environment where people can come, they feel good about where they are, and they can do something new and special. And that nexus, this group, can help change the town — that’s really what it comes down to.”
Two spaces have been rented, Goldin said, with the rest available to fill quickly.
The effort is part of a larger surge of economic development in town, he noted, with the sale of the former Lambert Kay property and the opening of new restaurants. The new tenants at Mad River Lofts, he said, would add to that, as they took up residence in the building.
He hasn’t decided on a plan for future of the larger building at 10 Bridge St. — which is quadruple the size of the smaller one, with more issues, Goldin said — and the building at 406 Main St., he said.
Potential ideas, Goldin said, include further loft space, a restaurant, a hotel — although he’s unsure about the feasibility of that — and an entertainment venue.
In the more immediate future, the basement of the smaller building is unfinished — Goldin envisions a restaurant calling the space home, with seating and activity stretching out into a natural amphitheater between the buildings.
He’s also putting up artwork along the river, and sketches from artist Walter Wick, which Corbran said were found during construction, could be put on display in his former studio as well. Wick worked on the “I Spy” series of books in the building, Goldin said.
Work at the Mad River Lofts is almost done, Goldin said, with about a month-and-a-half to two months left before it is totally complete.
The hope is for it retake its place in the life of the town — a hub of business and community, with a visible lineage stretching back into the annals of the past.
“You come into this building now, and you get a sense of the history — you feel it,” said Goldin. “And people love that, because you’re part of a continuum. You’re not just all by yourself.”