Norwalk, Connecticut, is a city of almost 100,000 people on the Long Island Sound. It’s part of Connecticut’s rust belt, where Norwalk’s postindustrial neighbors like Bridgeport and Waterbury have seen their economies stagnate for decades. In recent years, property values in these cities have risen substantially as New Yorkers look to live further afield for lower prices.
Soon, a relic of Norwalk’s industrial past will be converted into a public park. Plans are underway to convert Manresa Island, a 125-acre brownfield site, into a dynamic green space and community hub.
SCAPE has been selected to create the master plan and do community outreach, and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) will convert the island’s former coal-fired power plant into a multi-use public building. The plant’s epically proportioned turbine hall will be reprogrammed for community events.
“It’s just incredible that this private industrial parcel—which has pockets of rocky coastline, thriving wetlands, sandy beaches, and shady woodlands—is going to be healed and made public for all to enjoy,” Kate Orff said in a statement.
“Our vision for Manresa Island integrates ecological restoration, community access, and just plain fun,” Orff continued. “It invites people to experience the water’s edge in a new way. We are thrilled to champion a project that will set a benchmark for the adaptive reuse of industrial sites and resilient waterfronts globally.”
Reimagining Manresa Island
In total, Manresa Island has 1.75 miles of coast line. Norwalk native Austin McChord, the founder of unicorn startup Datto, and Allison McChord, Austin’s wife, recently acquired Manresa Island from Argent Ventures to build the park for an undisclosed amount.
Among the most visible changes SCAPE will make at Manresa Island will be new serpentine pedestrian trails that rise up from the marshland, creating intimate moments for guests between themselves and nature.
The park designed by SCAPE will offer water activities, education, children’s play areas and a university research component, according to the design team. There will also be a spacious green lawn and meadow, a public beach, a pedestrian bridge, outdoor thermal pools, controlled pool areas, and a vibrant pier-slash-boat launch for water recreation.
Meanwhile, the derelict coal-fired power plant BIG will transform is from 1953. It was built by Connecticut Light & Power, but it’s been empty since 2013. Renderings show pools and other recreational spaces interspersed throughout the shuttered plant, designed by BIG.
“Manresa Island is set to become a much-needed foothold for the public along the otherwise rather privatized Connecticut coastline. With our vision for the power plant, we seek to rediscover and reanimate the majestic spaces hidden within the bones of the decommissioned piece of infrastructure. Boilers, silos, and turbine halls are postindustrial cathedrals awaiting exploration and reinterpretation,” Bjarke Ingels said.
Ingels continued: “As an extension of SCAPE’s resettlement of the island for the enjoyment of human life among many other forms of life, we seek to extend that resettlement into the cavernous spaces within. By editing rather than adding, we will open up and clear out the existing spaces so that the once coal-powered plant can become the framework for the social and cultural life of Manresa’s future—from energy infrastructure to social infrastructure.”
Next Steps
Looking ahead, the community outreach process by SCAPE will kick off in 2025. Norwalk’s Maritime Aquarium is a development partner on the project.
A nonprofit, Manresa Island Corporation, has been established to fund and manage the publicly accessible park in perpetuity. Manresa Island Corporation will be led by Jessica Vonashek, the city of Norwalk’s chief of community and economic development.
Construction will happen in phases. The park should open in 2030.
