Mar. 29—NEW LONDON — At an eventful New London Landmarks annual meeting Tuesday, it was announced that Tox Brewing Co. is moving to Bank Street and the Garfield Mills project has begun remediation of its building.
The meeting was held at one of the three adjacent historic buildings owned by developers High Tide Capital at 137, 133 and 123 Bank St. The buildings are being restored and turned into luxury apartments and space for businesses to create a collective development called The Riverbank.
High Tide Capital was this year's recipient of Landmarks' Restoration Award for its work on Bank Street and its most recently completed work at the Manwaring Building at 225 State St. where Connecticut College students are being housed.
Landmarks Executive Director Laura Natusch said for many years developers have not taken part in the costly effort to restore historic buildings. She said she hopes High Tide Capital's work inspires others to do the same.
"These buildings have been vacant for so long," she said. "It feels like we are finally turning the corner."
Historian Tom Schuch received the Cliff Stone award for his years of research and work on the Black Heritage Trail. Constance Kristofik received the Volunteer of the Year Award for her documentary about the history of New London's LGBTQ+ community called "Holding Space for Each Other."
Landmarks Intern Leslie Ann Melendez presented a video montage as a preview to a project called "Bridging the gap with stories" that will feature the oral histories of two dozen people who grew up in the city's income-restricted housing projects.
Natusch said she and Melendez would also be working on a documentary in the summer about Puerto Rican migration into the city.
The meeting's featured speaker was Brian Lyman, the managing broker for Parker Benjamin, a real estate advising and development firm. The firm has renovated 38 Green St. into small studio apartments and is working for High Tide Capital on the Riverbank development and construction. Lyman accepted the restoration award on behalf of High Tide.
Lyman said his firm only works on buildings that have existed pre-1936 and are typically blighted in order to receive certain tax credits to help fund the renovation. He said a lot of infrastructure work goes into the projects with new electric, gas service and sewer systems.
In a presentation, Lyman showed slides of what people can expect from Riverbank. He said the small building at 137 Bank St. would be home to the record store The Telegraph.