Windsor prison site could support housing but faces zoning, funding and demolition hurdles

Windsor — Town and regional officials told the Senate Committee on Institutions on May 14 that the state-owned Windsor corrections property could be redeveloped for housing and mixed uses but faces major upfront costs, regulatory changes and ownership questions that must be settled before development can proceed.

The committee heard repeated evidence that the Windsor community opposes returning the property to correctional use while supporting development in principle. "The community here definitely does not want another prison like that is like less than 10% no matter how we ask the question," Tom Marsh told the panel, summarizing results from multiple town surveys and public meetings.

Committee members were shown a series of state-commissioned reports, public-survey results and a consultant analysis commissioned in 2023. The Montescutney Regional Commission’s director, Thomas Kennedy, said the technical review narrowed the site’s truly developable area to roughly 20–25 acres inside the facility’s fenced footprint because of steep slopes, streams, a 30-year solar lease covering part of the property and other limits. "We found that really the amount of developable land on that site is really between 20 and 25 acres," Kennedy said.

Officials described existing infrastructure as a redevelopment advantage and a constraint. Windsor has municipal sewer and a nearly new water system at the site, officials said,…