2005-10-20
more on new london, ct
An Ohio reader commented that the panorama below looked "rural" but the fact of the matter is that it's empty. Devoid of structures does not a farmland make. So here's a couple more shots, both taken from the same intersection. The left pix looks toward where the remaining houses sit. The right shows Pfizer's Research Centre complex in the background. Incidentally, according to recent entries at BizzyBlog things aren't getting any easier in New London. Not only have the City Fathers tried to distance themselves from NLDC but they are attempting to rein in the out of control development corporation. Maybe a little too late. Just before municipal elections? Couldn't they have acted before Kelo vs. New London made it to the Supreme Court?
And lets not let the big Drug Lord off the hook. While Pfizer execs now deny any involvement in pressing the city to remap the area to their wishes, Freedom of Information requests found documents filed with state agencies as far back as 1997 show that Pfizer was at least thinking about the land grab. The image on the right came from the same architectural firm that designed the research complex. Yesterday's New London Day published a story detailing some of the intimate connections between Pfizer and The state's Office of Economic Developement [headed for a time by Peter Ellef, once the now disgraced former governor John Rowland's right hand man]. Quoted from the article:
And lets not let the big Drug Lord off the hook. While Pfizer execs now deny any involvement in pressing the city to remap the area to their wishes, Freedom of Information requests found documents filed with state agencies as far back as 1997 show that Pfizer was at least thinking about the land grab. The image on the right came from the same architectural firm that designed the research complex. Yesterday's New London Day published a story detailing some of the intimate connections between Pfizer and The state's Office of Economic Developement [headed for a time by Peter Ellef, once the now disgraced former governor John Rowland's right hand man]. Quoted from the article:The records — obtained by The Day through the state Freedom of Information Act — show that, at least as early as the fall of 1997, Pfizer executives and state economic development officials were discussing the company's plans, not just for a new research facility but for the surrounding neighborhood as well.The web gets more twisted.
After several requests, the state Department of Economic and Community Development produced a document that both the state and Pfizer had at first said did not exist: A 1997 sketch, prepared by CUH2A, Pfizer's design firm for its new facility. Labeled as a “vision statement,” it suggested various ways the existing neighborhood and nearby vacant Navy facility could be replaced with a “high end residential district,” offices and retail businesses, expanded parking and a marina."
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