Four local agencies are set to receive money from the State Bond Commission, which met Tuesday to approve a lengthy list of requests ranging from a designs for a new library, to supporting ongoing renovations and restoration of the Thomaston Opera House and renovations to the Warner Theatre.
Funding allocations and bond authorizations were approved Oct. 22, according to a statement from the commission.
From the Department of Economic and Community Development's Community Investment Fund, Torrington's Warner Theatre is receiving $1.5 million for renovations and improvements to the Art Deco building on Main Street. The money will be used to improve the stage-level dressing rooms and the back of the house, to make it more appealing to national acts, according to theater administrators.
The plan is to renovate the Warner's historic building, lobby, and stage, including the HVAC and electrical systems, and to fix accessibility issues, according to theater co-executive director Stephanie Fried said. The theater will also modernize its sound, lighting, lighting control, security and smoke alarm systems.
The Thomason Opera House is receiving $2 million from the Community Investment Fund to support its continuing renovation and restoration of the historic building. The phased renovation project began in early 2024, and is a collaboration between the town, Thomaston Opera House Commission, Friends of the Thomaston Opera House and Landmark Community Theatre.
According to the theater's executive director, Jeff Dunn, the project includes a new freight elevator, sized and positioned to allow larger scenery for productions, and handicap access to the stage, as well as renovated dressing rooms, a wardrobe room, green room areas, and bathrooms with showers. Structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing improvements as well as fire protection and compliance are also part of the first phase. It will also include "the appropriate repairs and restoration of all the historic finishes in the auditorium," Dunn said. In September, restoration experts were removing layers of paint from the theater's ceiling, revealing the original painted designs.
The Winsted Health Center is receiving $1.6 million to repurpose portions of the Spencer Street building to include affordable housing and a job service center for veterans, as well as an "advanced makerspace project," according to a statement from the bond commission.
According to executive director Kris Griffin, the center's existing infrastructure will be changed into an affordable housing and workforce development hub that will provide vocational training in high demand manufacturing job skills and support for entrepreneurial endeavors. The center will also aim to provide underserved community members — especially veterans, transitioning active-duty personnel and reservists — with industry-relevant manufacturing and entrepreneurial skills by offering customized in-class workshops and hands-on training in manufacturing in Connecticut’s aerospace, defense, medical, and automation industries, Griffin said.
The project is also expected to receive a $1 million federal grant, according to U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal's office.
From the Connecticut State Library's board's grants-in-aid fund to public libraries for construction, renovations, expansions, energy conservation and handicapped accessibility, the Kent Memorial Library is receiving $5 million to build and expand the agency's existing building on Main Street into an adjacent, abandoned firehouse.
Oct 23, 2024
Emily M. Olson
Reporter
Emily M. Olson is staff reporter for the Torrington Register Citizen and the Litchfield County Times, both part of Hearst Connecticut Media Group. She is a 1997 graduate of Western Connecticut State University with a degree in English and a minor in journalism. She started as a reporter for the Patent Trader newspaper in Westchester County, New York, in 1998. After a brief period at The Register Citizen in 1999, she joined the former Housatonic Publications group as a reporter.
She was managing editor of the former Litchfield Enquirer and helped run the weekly newspapers at Housatonic and the Litchfield County Times. She returned to The Register Citizen in 2009, where she served as a managing editor and a community editor for towns in the northwest corner. As a reporter, she covers Torrington, Winsted and other nearby towns in Litchfield County.
Emily lives in New Milford. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, reading, taking walks and spending time with her friends, family and her dog, Lucy, and cat, Natalie.