New London waits for environmental test results for former dry cleaner, school

Yahoo

30-03-2025

New London ― City officials in the coming weeks and months expect to receive environmental assessment reports for two vacant properties ― an abandoned dry cleaners and what was once New London's oldest school ― that will determine the fate of the parcels.
Assessment teams are wrapping up studies of the former Harbor Elementary School building, 432 Montauk Ave., and the Shalett's dry cleaning business at 2 Montauk Ave., said Felix Reyes, the city's director of economic development and planning, on Thursday.
'What we learn from those reports will help any potential developer figure out what can be done with the properties,' Reyes said. 'It'll start the real conversations of whether we can keep the buildings and re-use them or have to demolish them.'
Without a clear idea of what potential contaminants are embedded on the sites ― and what it would take to scour them out ― developers are justifiably leery of making any financial commitments on the land, Reyes said.
'It's difficult to do that not knowing what dark secrets those sites might contain,' he said.
Assessing a shuttered school
The city last year approved using $63,700 in federal COVID-19 American Rescue Plan Act monies for a Phase I and a partial Phase II environmental assessment of the 3-acre Harbor school property that includes a 104-year-old school building and two 1990-era annexes.
A Phase I study usually entails poring through the history of a property, while a Phase II can include more invasive work, such as test borings and well monitoring.
The school was shuttered in June 2023 after cracks were discovered on the main building's second and third floors, prompting a two-day closure of the structure for inspections. The closing led to 270 Harbor students and 45 staff members being reassigned to new schools.
In addition to the main assessment work, GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc. was also tasked with carrying out targeted checks of the main building's soil for lead, and recreation areas for the presence of pesticides and other contaminants.
A pre-demolition survey of the school will include checks for asbestos, lead, mercury and refrigerants.
Reyes said that report is expected within six to eight weeks.
EPA lends a hand
The city took possession of the former Shalett's property in 2023 after its owner failed to pay $43,000 in back taxes. The 119-year-old white brick building on Garibaldi Square was owned and operated by the Shalett's Cleaning and Dying Corp. until 2004 when ownership was transferred to Ronit Inc., property records show.
'We basically inherited it,' Reyes said.
The city was able to avail itself of free technical funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to conduct ongoing environmental studies of the property. A findings report is still several months from being complete.
A request for proposal advertised last year, which called for transforming the 1.6-acre property, and its 11,000-square foot building, into a 'vibrant, multi-functional space,' attracted one interested company, Parker Benjamin, a national real estate and investment banking firm.
Parker Benjamin representatives could not be reached for comment on Friday.
Reyes said Parker Benjamin has made no formal offer on the property, but Reyes said informal conversations have revolved around creating a new, mixed-use development there.
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