Maromas Proposals At EDC

(Plans for the proposed Arawana Golf Course.)


Normally sparsely-attended, the Economic Development Committee meeting in Room 208 in City Hall was filled today as presenters, interested residents and commission members gathered to hearpresentations by three groups hoping to sponsor "open-space recreational" developments on former state property in Maromas.

Among those presenting were The Connecticut Forest and Park Association represented by Eric Hammerling and John Leshane.

Hammerling explained that the group, which plans and maintains the 825 miles of blue-blazed trails in Connecticut, that the loop proposed on the property would offer a spur that would be accessible to downtown Middletown.

"If there is to be a blue-blaze trail," Hammerling said. "We want it to be compatible with the area but also in a beautiful place."

(ArtFarm's proposed post and beam barn headquarters.)

ArtFarm directors and advocates Dic Wheeler and Marcella Trowbridge described a low-impact development for their organization on a piece of the former state property identified as parcel 5. On the wooded parcel, with two beautiful meadows, ArtFarm proposed to build two post and beam barns. One barn, the larger of the two, would hold a small performance area for an audience no bigger than 80, rehearsal space, meeting space for weekly or weekend retreats, and bunkhouse lofts for those retreats. The other barn, labeled the agricultural barn, would house small farm animals, and be the site of nature programs for school children and visitors.

"What we'd like to do is get 200 people together for a barn-raising, to put up the frame," Wheeler explained. "And then you have 200 people with a sense of ownership."

Tony Pioppi, a local golf writer, ended the presentation with a proposal for the nine-hole Arawana Golf Course.

The proposed course, which winds through the hills on the property, would feature Integrated Pest Management, (meaning curative and not preventive spraying of pesticides and herbicides), a hardy grass blend which is not water sensitive, and standards which would Pioppi hoped would give it Audobon Sanctuary Status.

Piopi explained that the course designed by well-know golf course architect Brian Silva, harkened back to the Golden Age of Golf Architecture (1910-1935). Piopi foresaw a three and a half year planning and construction timeline if the golf course plan is accepted.

Members of the public, and some from the Conservation Commission expressed concern with the affect that the course would have on the environment. Neighbors to the proposed golf course, Councilman Earle Roberts, and local attorney Ralph Wilson came down on opposite sides of the issue. Both claimed longtime status in the hills above town, but Roberts urged the EDC to consider abandoning development and preserving the land for future agricultural use. Wilson, who indicated a cynicism toward the State's promises, and urged the EDC to support a golf course which would occupy the land and prevent the state from building any further unwanted development on the site.