News Times Live Old plant going green
"By Robert Miller
THE NEWS-TIMES
REDDING -- In its past, the Gilbert & Bennett wire factory in Georgetown provided people jobs. It gave them a life.
But it also polluted the Norwalk River and belched smoke into the air.
In its newest incarnation, the plant will once again be filled with people -- folks living in factory space converted into lofts and condominiums, and working in its offices, stores and restaurants.
It will be green -- built with new energy-efficient technology, boasting pedestrian walkways instead of roads, tied to mass transit through the construction of a new train station on the Danbury-to-Norwalk Metro-North line.
"Moving from what was brown to what will be green is consistent with our corporate philosophy,'' Stephen Solar, president of the Georgetown Land Development Company, which is building the Gilbert & Bennett project, said in a press statement Friday.
The factory complex, which opened in the 19th century, closed for good in the 1980s.
In recognition of what Solar's company will do with Gilbert & Bennett's 55 acres, the U.S. Green Building Council has included the project in a pilot program to create Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards not just for individual buildings, but for an entire neighborhood.
"This is about Smart Growth design,'' Taryn Holowka, spokeswoman for the Green Building Council, said Monday. "We're seeing that we can transfer the LEED standards to neighborhoods. ..."
