Renovation work on Brookfield”™s Four Corners district is proceeding with the recent selection of a contractor for the project”™s first phase and even a new name for that part of town.
The area has long been known as Four Corners, both as the historic junction of state Routes 202 and 25 ”” Federal Road and Whisconier Road – and for the quartet of gas stations on the intersection”™s corners. Partly to reflect the rebirth that is taking place, officials are encouraging adoption of the name Brookfield Town Center and plan to install welcome signs using the new moniker.
“Locals will always refer to the area as the Four Corners, but formally it”™s now named the Brookfield Town Center,” said Brookfield Economic and Community Development Manager Betsy Paynter.
Twelve area contractors attended an April 12 pre-bid meeting for the project, which resulted in four proposals being submitted by a May 12 deadline, said town project manager Greg Dembowski. “We were very pleased with the attendance and with the resulting bids,” he said. One bid was found to fall short of state requirements for projects involving state roads.
Bid award recommendations were made to the Western Connecticut Council of Governments, which provides a forum for its 18 member municipalities to communicate and collaborate in addressing intermunicipal issues and needs. Brookfield”™s J. Iapaluccio Inc. was awarded the first-phase streetscape project with its bid of $1,699,888.
Iapaluccio is required to have substantially finished the project by the middle of November and to have it completed by mid-December. Dembowski estimated that the work, expected to begin in June, should be completed on schedule.
The second phase, which will further extend the streetscape, is already fully funded through an $875,000 federal grant and another $475,000 from the town of Brookfield. That phase is expected to begin in the summer of 2019, Dembowski said. Details on the third and final phase are not yet available.
Plans call for the removal of eight utility poles and several existing buildings to make way for four mixed-use buildings that will be developed by Unicorn Contracting Corp. of Cold Spring, New York. The $25 million project, called Brookfield Village, will have 72 rental apartments and about 25,000 square feet of commercial space. The buildings will be set far enough back from the street to allow for sidewalks and encourage pedestrian traffic in the new town center.
The ultimate goal, Paynter said, “is to help us attract more business to Brookfield.”
