“From the Ruins”

~ Elizabeth

We walk most days in a large riverfront park along the Connecticut River. In the next few days I will write about the wonderful community asset now there. But first I wanted to share three photos of the site before it was transformed.

As with many river locations, the original use was industrial. In the neighborhood in Portland, Oregon where I lived, for instance, furniture factories were replaced by a park after furniture manufacturing left. In Glastonbury, Connecticut, the river provided a way to supply huge oil tanks. When we moved here the tanks were long longer in use, but the empty ones remained as the first photo shows.

The wooden structures in the center photo used to run the hoses to the tanks were falling apart but were still a hazard since they seemed to beg to be climbed on. The third photo shows the town’s effort to keep people from exploring the ruins. Of course as with any “attractive nuisance,” they failed.

Needless to say the entire site was contaminated, labeled a “brownfield” and would need significant remediation before it could be used as a park.

13 thoughts on ““From the Ruins””

Leave a comment