The coal-fired power plant that’s loomed over the city of Bridgeport for generations is finally set to come down. A mixed-use development could rise in its place.
Electricity utility PSEG is selling the property to an LLC, Bridgeport Station Development, for $1, Gov. Ned Lamont’s office announced Tuesday. In addition, Lamont said, the state will give the developers a $22.5 million grant from its Community Investment Fund to pay for demolition and cleanup.
Abatement and demolition will begin “in the coming weeks,” and last up to three years, Lamont’s office said.
“This 33-acre shoreline property containing a former coal plant with a 500-foot smokestack has cut off access to the waterfront for Bridgeport residents for more than 70 years, and the contamination it has left behind has caused a significant hurdle in how this land could possibly be redeveloped and brought back into productive use to the benefit of the community,” Lamont said in a statement. “Nobody wants to have an old, polluted, unused and blighted building sitting on the shoreline of our state’s largest city when we could be using this property to grow new jobs and build housing for people who need it.”
The power plant, along with Interstate 95 and CT Route 8, have helped give Bridgeport residents one of the highest rates of asthma and related diseases in the state. The plant closed in 2021. But the roughly 1 million tons of coal it burned over its decades in operation leeched heavy metals into the site’s soil and groundwater, creating a huge challenge for any efforts to convert the site to new uses.
“For years, Bridgeporters have dreamed about what might be possible at the former PSEG site,” Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim said in a statement. “Now, thanks to Gov. Lamont, the Bridgeport delegation and the Community Investment Fund, Bridgeport’s waterfront will see a major transformation and environmental remediation which will pave the way for economic development, job creation, and housing to meet the demands of our city and region.”
It’s not clear just what might replace the power plant, but city and state officials want it to be residential, commercial, water-focused or recreational uses.
Whatever developers decide, they have experience cleaning up power plants, Lamont’s office said. Bridgeport Station Development LLC may be registered to a residential address in a subdivision outside Syracuse, New York, but its principals last year completed the demolition of a coal-fired power plant in Beesley’s Point, New Jersey. Local media reports say the site will be used for offshore wind infrastructure
“We are grateful to PSEG, the State of Connecticut, and the City of Bridgeport for entrusting us with the opportunity to transform this expansive waterfront property into a thriving community asset,” Chad Parks, principal of Bridgeport Station Development LLC said in a statement provided by Lamont’s office. “Recognizing that ideas and visions for its reuse have been discussed within the community for years, we are excited to collaborate with local stakeholders to create a redevelopment plan that prioritizes public access, resiliency, and sustainability – all guided by community input.”