CORNWALL — The community celebrated the start of the Bonney Brook senior housing complex with bells on — literally.
Led by resident Marie Prentice, people attending Wednesday's ceremony took bells from her basket and marched from the firehouse parking lot next door to the five-acre site on Route 7 in Cornwall Bridge where the groundbreaking took place.
The clearing of the land for the 10-unit apartment complex has begun, with the project expected to take about a year. It is being done under the auspices of the Cornwall Housing Corp. and the Cornwall Senior Housing Corp. Funding comes from the federal Housing and Urban Development, the state's Department of Economic and Community Development and CL&P.
About 75 people gathered under the green and white-striped tent to hear comments which began with First Selectman Gordon M. Ridgway. "The sun is shining on Cornwall in more ways than one," he said.
The project has been talked about for years, he said, giving praise to Bernice Merz who sold the land to the town for such a purpose. It came to fruition thanks to her and the hours and hours put in by townspeople to make it happen.
"This will meet the needs of many many people," said Ridgway. "It's nice to see all governments (local, state and federal) work together to get this done."
Julie B. Fagan, director of HUD's Hartford field office, said her agency likes to invest in leadership and "your local leadership showed your capacity to deliver on this vision." She said this complex is most important to the residents who will live in it. "We invest in projects like this because of the seniors who have gone before us and shown us the way."
Nick Lundgren, director of the Office of Housing and Community Development for the state's Department of Community and Economic Development, congratulated those gathered, noting the assistance agreement had been signed that morning. He spoke of the state's aging population and said those changing demographics need to be reflected in its housing levels.
"Affordable housing has to work for people using the infrastructure as well as the community as a whole," he said.
CL&P's Tom Dorsey said his company strongly believes in affordable housing and shows it by being the largest buyer of Housing Tax Credit Contributions. He said the firm is proud to be a partner in this endeavor.
Rep. Roberta B. Willis, D-Salisbury, whom Evans described as being "a friend of affordable housing forever," said while the government was able to help, "it took a village to put this together." She concurred with Lundgren about the increased aging population, which is true in the Northwest Corner. She said people have had to move elsewhere because they could not find affordable, suitable housing.
"People who have lived here all their lives should be able to stay here," she said. "That's what makes a community a community."
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