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Design Review Board endorses Electric Boat plan to convert Crystal Mall with workforce training in Sears and extensive landscaping
Summary
The Waterford board voted to present plans for General Dynamics Electric Boat's adaptive reuse of Crystal Mall at 850 Hartford Turnpike, which emphasizes workforce development in the former Sears, interior conversions (no new footprint), traffic improvements including roundabouts, and nearly 1,000 new trees and revised signage.
The Waterford Design Review Board voted Feb. 24 to present and support General Dynamics Electric Boat’s adaptive-reuse plan for the Crystal Mall at 850 Hartford Turnpike, a proposal the applicant says will convert interior mall space into training, research and office uses while leaving the existing footprint intact.
Attorney John Casey (Robinson & Cole) and Jim Waldron, Electric Boat’s manager of facilities and real estate, told the board the project will be phased and that workforce development in the Sears building is the top priority. ‘‘One of the assets in this whole plan is the Sears Building that is gonna be our workforce development school that we’re building out,’’ Waldron said, describing the need for training space to support the Columbia-class submarine program and related hiring demands.
Architect Chris Boxall said most changes are interior: key concourse circulation will remain, primary exterior entrances will be maintained and several storefronts will be infilled to control access. Landscape architect Chad Frost described a sweeping exterior redesign: new entry thresholds, widened sidewalks, two new roundabouts for circulation, reorganized parking with many new end-cap planting islands, and a continuous double-row evergreen buffer along Route 85 intended to largely screen the building from the roadway.
Frost said the team plans roughly 550 evergreen trees and about 450 deciduous trees (about 1,000 new trees total), will remove roughly an acre and a half of asphalt in places, and expects to increase parking by about 200 spaces through more efficient layout. He said plant species selection (Arborvitae nigra cited) may change depending on regional availability at planting time.
The team also addressed parking and security: CLA engineer Kyle Hobert confirmed parking counts account separately for nearby restaurant parcels (Longhorn, Olive Garden), and EB’s security team intends to limit primary public access to five monitored entrances while maintaining code-required egress doors for emergencies. Presenters said weekday hours for most offices are expected to be Monday–Friday, roughly 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., with occasional weekend classroom activity for workforce-development programs.
Board members responded positively to the reuse, noting the benefit of bringing an underused property back into productive use. A motion to present the plans was moved, seconded and carried. Presenters thanked the board and left the meeting.
Next steps: The design review recommendations will be forwarded to Planning & Zoning as part of the town’s site-plan and special-permit review process.
