Norwich collected $2 million in state funds: here's how it's being used at the waterfront

Norwich is celebrating progress in revitalizing the harbor.

Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz visited Howard Brown Park Thursday to talk about improvements made with $2 million in Community Investment Fund 2030 money. The visit coincided with Encanto Scoops at the Docks opening at the ice cream stand building in the park.

The money went toward gas tanks at the Marina at American Wharf, replacing docks, adding a public restroom and permanent event stage, and a family activity area, either a splash pad and ice rink, or a miniature golf course, Bysiewicz said.

This project was supported by the state Department of Economic and Community Development because it attracts people to downtown, and it demonstrates strong partnerships between the city and the state, and public and private investment, Bysiewicz said.

“The community will benefit from the recreational opportunity that will come,” she said.

Working on the waterfront

The waterfront was prioritized during the Norwich City Council’s goal setting session in 2022. The marina is a strategic asset, but the city didn’t know where they money would come from. Once CIF 2030 was created, a program distributing $875 million to the most distressed municipalities in the state over 10 application rounds, the city found the support it needed.

Norwich already received CIF funding in the past for the Reid and Hughes building and the Occum Industrial Center.

Progress was also made through Norwich working with the new marina owners, husband and wife Patrick and Brittney Dwyer. What had been an underutilized property from the former owner is now attracting visitors through events and the refurbished restaurant space, and is bringing back amenities for boaters, Norwich Community Development Corporation President Kevin Brown said.

The city’s efforts in changing the perception of the waterfront are working, as more people are coming to the marina. Tying work in downtown with the waterfront will bring that many more people into both parts of the city, Patrick Dwyer said.

“If we continue to clean it up, and take care of it all, people will show up,” he said.

A long journey

It’s also been a journey for Vanessa Velez, owner of Encanto Scoops at the Docks. She started the business as a food truck, Mi Encanto, in 2020. Soon enough, the taco truck became a fixture at Howard Brown Park. Velez had also long wanted to move her business into the ice cream stand building. She first tried in 2022, but things fell through with the former building owners, who also once owned the marina.

Velez tried again once the Dwyers took over, and the restaurant got its final approval Wednesday, and rushed to be open for Bysiewicz’s visit, Velez said.

“It feels great having more space than in the food truck,” she said. “We won’t run out of food so fast.”

The Scoops in the name is because Encanto now sells ice cream as well. You can have your ice cream in a cup, or in a bubble waffle cone. This type of cone is served in a paper holster because its soft and flexible. The cone itself absorbs some of the ice cream as it melts.

Velez hopes her business helps bring families to the harbor.

As the business is still limited to Velez and her family, including husband Otilio and son Ezequiel Torres, there aren’t enough people available to run the truck at this time.

What’s next for Norwich?

Norwich still needs state money to continue revitalization by the water and around the city, Brown said.

“It stops there unless there’s money,” he said.

Norwich has five applications in for the fifth round of the CIF 2030 grant, totaling $12 million. These requests include more funding for the waterfront, demolishing the Capehart Mill, supporting the Day Integrated Charter School, affordable housing investments, and money for Fontaine Field, Brown said.

The work to connect Uncas Leap to the waterfront is also important because it unifies the city’s revitalization efforts, Norwich Mayor Peter Nystrom said.

“We’re not going to back off until we get all these things done,” he said.

State Senator Cathy Osten also emphasized the city’s commitment to more affordable housing, including in five different downtown buildings, and at the Lofts at Ponemah Mill in Taftville.

“They are looking to have more people move here,” she said.