Norwich commission approves waterfront park overhaul, including band shell, water plaza and seasonal ice rink

The Commission of Civic Plan for the City of Norwich on April 21 approved a coastal area management (CAM) application and special permit for major renovations at Howard T. Brown Memorial Park on Chelsea Harbor Drive, including a band shell, a spray‑play water plaza that will convert to a seasonal ice rink, and a small support building with restrooms and mechanical space.

Michael Doherty, manager of landscape architecture for SLR Consulting, told the commission the roughly 3.65‑acre project replaces 21 striped parking spaces on the park’s east end, enlarges an event lawn, and reconfigures central parking and the waterfront riverwalk. “We are providing additional flood storage,” Doherty said, and described design choices made to keep mechanical equipment above the FEMA base flood elevation and to dry‑floodproof the support building to elevation 15 (one foot above the base flood elevation of 14). The building’s finished floor will be about elevation 10, with stop‑log flood barriers planned for doors rather than gasketed doors to reduce ongoing maintenance costs.

The project team said removing the existing…