‘Return to the Riverbend’

Storefront, forums planned for input on riverfront vision

MIDDLETOWN — Community input and information gathering will be an essential component of the city’s plan for revitalizing the Connecticut Riverfront as a “vibrant, accessible mixed-use district,” officials said.

The city will hold an online visioning workshop, “Return to the Riverbend: Planning Our Future Together” Oct. 12, the first of two such large forums. The results will be incorporated into the master plan created by New York-based architectural firm Cooper Robertson.

Another component of the project — which has been decades in the making — includes a storefront at Main Street Market, 386 Main St., that will be continually updated as the project moves along, according to Director of Eco

nomic and Community Development Joseph Samolis.

It will open next to Perk On Main after the Oct. 12 session. “We want to spread the word about it, and get information that will help steer what goes in there,” he said.

The space will provide details on the development, something suggested by Cooper Robertson that impressed Mayor Ben Florsheim, he has said.

City officials encourage the public to offer suggestions, opinions and other feedback that will help during the planning process, Samolis said. Eventually, models of the work will be part of the presentation.

“In this virtual workshop, the City of Middletown and our consultants want to hear from YOU — the Middletown community — about your vision for this area,” the Economic and Community Development

Department said in advertising the event.

Future outreach will include pop-up, one-day public events, in the form of booths or kiosks, to elicit more comments from the public, Samolis said.

The “riverbend” refers to Middletown’s located on the “big bend” in the river, which was formerly a thriving

port. The area is roughly bordered by Route 9 and includes Eastern Drive and River Road.

Florsheim recently signed a $1.57 million contract with the New York City-based architecture and urban design firm Cooper Robertson to create a longawaited redevelopment plan for the riverfront.

The master plan is being funded from the $55 million 21st Century Infrastructure Bond approved by voters at the last election.

Cooper Robertson’s plan reimagines nearly 200 acres of Middletown’s riverfront as a “vibrant, accessible mixed-use district, with the historic legacy of the city centered in the planning process,” the firm said in a statement.

The proposal will create new recreational, economic and environmental opportunities for Middletown residents in an “equitable and inclusive way,” the architectural group said.

It will tie in with several projects already underway at Harbor Park, including extensive renovations and the eventual occupation of the former canoe club at 80 Harbor Drive.

The owners of Eli Cannon’s tap room envision a snack shack run by Middletown High School students, coffee and ice cream bar, brewery and restaurant.

Registration for the workshop can be done online.

Cassandra Day / Hearst Connecticut Media Beginning in mid-October, a storefront at the front of Main Street Market will house myriad information about Middletown’s Connecticut River revitalization, which will be continually updated as the project moves along. The “R” symbol refers to “Return to the Riverbend.”

Joseph Samolis / Contributed photo The city of Middletown will host an online workshop, “Return to the Riverbend: Planning Our Future Together” for the revitalization of the Connecticut Riverfront on Oct. 12.