Manresa Wilds Has Big Plans—If It’s Approved
Manresa Island could be transformed into a public park, research hub, and gathering spot—depending on approval from the Norwalk Planning and Zoning Commission.
Austin and Allison McChord have big dreams for Manresa Island (currently home to a decommissioned power plant)—a public park, a hub of scientific research and innovation, an event space and gathering spot, a model for other former industrial sites across the country. But before any of those can happen, their plan for the island has to be approved locally, by Norwalk’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
And a bunch of local residents have made it clear to the commission they don’t support the vision for this site. More than 100 people attended a public hearing on Wednesday, July 15 with dozens more watching on Zoom. While some members were supportive of the project, many raised concerns about it.
Jan Schaefer, the president of the Manresa Association, a group of surrounding neighborhoods that formed after the power plant shutdown, thanked the McChords for purchasing the island and saving it from future deterioration. However, she noted that the group had some pressing concerns with the proposal, particularly with the main road to and from the site.
“Traffic and safety is a top concern,” she said. “Woodward Avenue is already congested—the flow is currently compromised when buses, trucks, and large vehicles drive over the double yellow line into oncoming traffic as they navigate past parked cars. There are also safety concerns for pedestrians and cyclists.”
She called on the city to also step up and enhance the local roads if this project was to be approved.
“If the city wants to have an extraordinary regional destination, the city needs to match that vision with transportation planning of the same caliber,” she said. “If the city cannot support the full scope of the plan safely and sustainably, then scale and the scale and intensity of the project should align with the appropriate infrastructure.”
As the commission continues to gather public input and weighs the proposal, let’s explore what’s proposed for the site, what some of the main points of contention are, and what’s next for the former industrial property.
A Quick History of Manresa Island
There’s an old newspaper ad from the 1930s that resurfaced during the public hearings, calling on Norwalk to purchase the property. Previously, it had been used as a retreat space for the Jesuit religious order before they left the site for Staten Island. However, the city didn’t and instead approved plans for a coal-fired power plant on the site in the 1950s. It eventually became an oil-fired power plant and remained in operation until 2013.
The property sat dormant for about a decade until Argent Ventures purchased the property in 2023 with a plan to build condos on the site. A year later, the property was sold again—this time to Austin and Allison McChord, billionaire philanthropists, who began laying out the vision for Manresa Wilds.
Inside Manresa Wilds
Over the past 18 months or so, the McChords and the nonprofit they launched to oversee the site—Manresa Island Corp—hosted multiple public information sessions where the proposed plans were unveiled, discussed, and evolved.
The current master plan for the site breaks the proposal down into phases. The first phase has already received approval from the Norwalk Planning and Zoning Commission and that’s for the Northern Forest. This 28-acre section of the site, which is the closest to the road and farthest from the water, will feature more than a mile of trails connecting three “pockets” of space in the forest. It will also include space for outdoor classrooms, picnic areas, and space to appreciate nature. The goal is to open this section to the public in 2027.
The second phase will include more of the active outdoor uses, such as the public beach, the community pool, the great lawn, wetlands trails, and nature play spaces. In addition, the first major renovations to the power plant building itself, featuring event spaces and a welcome center, will take place, as well as updates to the administrative building, which could feature a cafe and restaurant. This phase is projected for 2031-2032.
The third phase includes the beachfront promenade, kayak and water transportation section, additional play areas, and a pier and field station. This is projected for 2032-2035, with potential for the boiler building on the site to be redone with research partners as a research and education center.
The McChords have committed $410 million to transform the site into a safe, sustainable, accessible space, with additional funding to come through the Manresa Wilds nonprofit.
But before any of the phases beyond the Northern Forest can come to life, the project needs approval from Norwalk Planning and Zoning Commission.
What’s Before the Commission
The commission is currently reviewing a proposal to create a special zoning district for the property that basically would dictate what types of uses are—and are not—allowed on the site. According to the application, the owners of Manresa Wilds, under the Manresa Osprey LLC, propose that the uses include “parks, greens and playgrounds, along with new uses that align with the Manresa Osprey’s vision of Manresa Wilds as a park for recreational activities, interior event, office and other uses, educational and research opportunities and other uses typically associated with a park.”
As a part of the proposal, the applicant laid out the types of uses that it believes should be allowed on the site, those that should be allowed with some limitations, and those that would require a special permit (meaning they’d have to come back before the commission). It doesn’t mean that all of these uses will happen, just that they could be allowed on the site. Some of the uses listed are:
- Allowed: park, playground, museum, library, maritime center, brew pub/distillery, theater, research and development, marina, etc.
- Allowed with some restrictions: amphitheater, boat terminal/storage, dormitory for students, event space, restaurant, etc.
- Special permit: hotel, college, wireless telecommunications facility, etc.
Concerns about Manresa Wilds
It’s many of these potential uses that have residents concerned. But the biggest overall concern is the potential traffic impact on the local neighborhoods. There’s currently one road that leads directly to Manresa and that’s Woodward Avenue—a two lane road that runs through South Norwalk. Off of Woodward are residential communities, including Village Creek, Harborview, and Shorefront Park. The property is about two miles south of the South Norwalk train station, and there are plans to have a bus stop from the Norwalk Transit District at the site.
When phases 1 and 2 are built out—by 2035—the property is estimated to have 731,000 annual visitors. When all three are complete, the projections are for 792,000 annual visitors. June through September are expected to have 53% of all of those visitors for the year.
Mike Mushak, a former member of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission called the proposed project a “huge disappointment to many of us who thought Manresa Wilds was going to be a quiet wildlife refuge with trails for passive recreation.”
Mushak brought photos of Woodward Avenue, the road into the site, and noted that it has a history of flooding.
“This represents a serious threat to public health and safety—if the projection of over a million visitors a year with the current master plan is approved, flood levels are predicted to increase with sea level rise,” he said. “This roadway flooding that completely cuts ingress and egress to Manresa Island will only get worse in coming years.”
Resident Danielle DeVito said that the owners called this a gift to Norwalk, of a park and green space.
“What's actually in front of this commission today doesn't feel like a park,” she said. “Let's be precise about what's being asked for: a zoning regulation and map amendment creating a brand new special district in a fully residential neighborhood with one single-lane road in and out.”
Beverly Krieger, who lives near the site, said that she believed the project “just isn’t feasible.”
“It will literally be a nightmare. It could be a disastrous event, but beyond that, what is this going to do for us? We're asking to approve this. What is it going to do for Norwalk? What's the benefit to Norwalk? Are we going to be asked to spend our own money, our taxpayers' money, to subsidize this?”
Alexandra Kimball said that while she felt it would be a shame if the project fell through, she also didn’t think the traffic studies took into effect the issue facing residents.
“I'm just deeply puzzled about how all the experts can say it’s really just a traffic light or two. When you're living it, it doesn’t feel like that at all,” she said.
Response from Manresa Wilds
Representatives from Manresa Wilds said they heard the concerns from residents and have offered some ideas to help mitigate the impacts.
“I want to make sure that everyone knows that we've been reading everything that's been posted, and that we've been listening with open ears, and that we are taking that very seriously,” said Jessica Vonashek, executive director of Manresa Wilds. “We understand that if there’s traffic in the neighborhood and it’s putting people under pressure, it's probably putting the park under pressure too, and so we need to be good neighbors in that.”
For starters, one suggestion was to cap the number of parking spots at 400 to limit the amount of people at the site at a given time. Related, visitors could be required to prebook a parking spot using an app.
Other suggestions included:
- utilizing existing parking in the city, such as at the SoNo Collection or Maritime Aquarium and running a free shuttle to Manresa
- running shuttles from the train stations in the city to the site
- collaborating with the Norwalk Transit District to have a bus stop at the site
- enhancing bike lanes and walking trails to the site to allow local visitors to connect to the site without a car
In later phases of the plans for the property, there are proposals for things like water taxi service, which could also get people to the site without a car.
Excitement for Manresa Wilds
While the majority of speakers were opposed—or at least had concerns with the project, there were many residents who shared their excitement.
“I am strongly in favor of the Manresa project,” Erik Dies said, adding that everyone with the project has been "deliberate and conscientious and seemed to actually care about concerns.”
He added that the island used to be the site where “kids used to sneak off to get drunk,” and that “it’s an industrial wasteland,” and that many of the concerns were hyperbolic.
Teacher and resident Heather Dunn said that the reformed site is a “great thing for our students.”
“SCAPE [the landscape architect for the project] is amazing,” she said. “One of the first things I did was go and look at some of the projects they have been involved in, and I would encourage everybody to go do that. They're amazing, amazing, and I want that for our city. So I'm highly in favor of this, and I think that I have trust that they will create something beautiful that we can all be proud of and leave as a legacy to our children.”
Others like Laura Budd asked the commission to require more independent traffic studies and require certain safety improvements to make the project successful for all.
“This commission’s predecessors let a power company build a plant on pristine Manresa Island. It burned coal and oil, scarred our waterfront—the city bore the pollution, but they got nothing in return,” she said. “Tonight, this board has a chance to right the wrong. We support Manresa Wilds. We believe the McChords and their team’s intentions are honorable, and bringing this island back to Norwalk is a once-in-a-generation gift.”
What’s next for Manresa Wilds?
The commission will continue the public hearing on Wednesday, July 29 at 6 p.m. Residents can continue to submit written testimony in advance of the hearing or sign up to speak that day.
