Project rendering
MIDDLETOWN – Work will begin soon on the first project in the $10 million Middletown Downtown Revitalization Initiative – the Rail Trail Commons – a redesign and rebuild of the former Woodworth building.
During a special common council session Monday evening, lawmakers approved the awarding of the bids for the work, which total $2.67 million.
The building on North Street, which has remained vacant for decades, will undergo a major redesign to include retail shops, a promenade and connection to the Heritage Trail.
Alderman Jerry Kleiner, who sponsored the measure, said the Woolworth project is the beginning of the entire downtown revitalization.
“We had structural questions about the building if it were going to be removed and it was the mayor’s idea to come right through the middle of it and make two shopping plazas out of it,” Kleiner said. “We have a lot of hope for it.”
Other projects within the $10 million state grant, the only one in the
region, also include new facades, streetscapes and enhanced parking.
