A year after New London church collapse, development plans underway

Work is underway to transform the site in New London where a church collapsed almost one year ago.

Thankfully, no one was hurt. But the loss of the landmark transformed the skyline and raised concerns about the future of the prime downtown spot.

“It looked indestructible because it's built of this strong granite,” Tom Couser, New London Landmarks board president, said.

For some 150 years, the First Congregational Church towered above New London and was easy to spot from around the area.

“Everyone was surprised and shocked when it suddenly, you know, just disappeared in a cloud of dust and a lot of rubble,” Couser said.

That dramatic moment was caught in a new video shared with NBC Connecticut, showing part of the destruction nearly a year ago.

Another surveillance camera captured the steeple crashing down on Jan. 25 last year.

“There's a lot of history that now is gone,” Mayor Michael Passero (D-New London) said.

From his office in city hall overlooking the site, Passero watched as the church was demolished and most of the rubble was hauled away.

Large stones had actually been quarried on the site at State and Union streets.

“You cannot replace a building like that. I mean, the stonework, the expense of the craftsmanship, you know, they don't do that anymore,” Couser said.

“One of the things that concerned us greatly was what would happen to the site after the church was removed and the stones removed,” Alicia Primer, New London Landmarks executive director, said.

Eventually the property was sold to Eastern Connecticut Housing Opportunities, which will also have to pay the city back $250,000 for the cleanup costs.

The organization announced plans for a mixed-use development, along with a way to pay tribute to the former church.

“The building was not very ornamented, but there were still some decorative rocks that we were happy to see saved and should be reused in the new building,” Primer said.

The proposal calls for a five-story building to rise in its place with apartments, spots for businesses and parking.

“You couldn't miss it from almost anywhere. It was a beautiful structure,” Passero said.

The mayor said while remembering the past, they are focused on the future.

And the new structure will fulfill a need for more housing downtown.

“While the loss of the church is really dramatic, it's traumatic to our historic downtown you know, there's sort of a consolation prize in that a developer stepped in quickly,” Passero said.

ECHO – the nonprofit developing the site – said they are waiting to hear if state funding for the project is approved.

If successful, they hope to start construction in the fall and expect it to take about 16 months.