🔒Manresa Island Corp. unveils final plan for Norwalk park
Hundreds of local residents turned out to see the final plan for Manresa Wilds at a community meeting at Norwalk's Maritime Aquarium. HBJ Photo | Harriet Jones.
More than 300 community members turned out Thursday evening to see the final plan for Manresa Wilds, the public park planned by Norwalk entrepreneur Austin McChord and his wife Allison.
McChord told the crowd that the couple expects to spend about $410 million on planning and preparation for the polluted former power plant site.
“We're so excited to deliver this for this community, and we've been so happy with all the feedback that we've received,” McChord told the community meeting at Norwalk’s Maritime Aquarium.
Austin McChord takes questions from members of the public after the meeting. HBJ Photo | Harriet Jones.
The first phase of the park, dubbed the Northern Forest, is slated to open next year. Landscaping, remediation and construction on the main site will begin in 2028, with additional phases opening from 2032.
The 125-acre parcel at the mouth of Norwalk Harbor on Long Island Sound was for decades the site of an oil-burning power plant owned by NRG. The plant closed in 2013 and the site has remained vacant since. The McChords purchased the land in 2024 with the idea of promoting public access to the Sound.
An aerial rendering of plans for the Manresa Island site. Contributed Image.
The plan for Manresa Wilds will rehabilitate the power plant building as a public gathering space and research hub. The park around it will include a public beach and swimming pool, a harbor with kayak access, and wetland and wooded areas with public access trails.
“We hope this can be used to move the needle forward on other polluted sites around the country,” said Jessica Vonashek, executive director of the nonprofit Manresa Island Corp., which is managing the site’s development.
The plan includes public access to the shoreline. Contributed Image.
The corporation says that more than 3,000 community members have given input on the plan, and the feedback consistently emphasized a desire for a more natural landscape, preserving sensitive habitats and protecting nearby neighborhoods from traffic and other impacts.
“Traffic and parking are a big concern,” said Trudy Hodenfield who lives in the Harbor Shores neighborhood next to the site. “It's a little peninsula with a little two-lane road going out there and there's no other infrastructure out on that end of the city.”
However, Hodenfield said that she’s been impressed with the responsiveness of the project organizers to local concerns.
“They have made the time to come to every neighborhood that's adjacent to the property, and we have appreciated that immensely,” said Jody Proct, another Harbor Shores resident.
