Thumbs Up

Preliminary thumbs up to a proposed project that would build rental apartments and retail space at the corner of Tresser and Washington boulevards, a prime piece of downtown real estate that has lain dormant for too long.

We say "preliminary" because it would be jumping the gun to back a project until it is more fully examined. But the concept is a promising one.

We are rather partial to this particular location. Until February 2008, it's where we went to work every day (and night ... often both). But since The Advocate left for our current location in Springdale, the city has struggled to decide what to do with the land.

This plan would provide needed downtown rental housing. An earlier proposal to build housing/retail at the site met with conflicting reactions from officials, causing the developer to pull out. And other recent proposals to build downtown housing have met similar fates in the bad economy.

Furthermore, the design is an intriguing modern/traditional mix that takes into account the very different environments that would face opposite sides of the development. And, as the site is part of the Mill River Corridor, a portion of property taxes generated there would go toward redevelopment of Mill River Park.

A lot would have to happen to make the plan a reality. But at this early stage, the development appears to be a good use for the location.

Thumbs down, however, to the potential developer's plan to get rid of the exquisite copper beech tree that currently lives on the site.

The 80-foot example of arboreal splendor would not survive the building of the new development as plans currently stand. We urge the developers, Greenfield Partners of Norwalk, to change plans to include the tree, and call on government officials who will be involved in the approval process to protect it.

Not only is the tree and its vast purple canopy beautiful, at least one estimate puts it at 120 years old. It's been here longer than any of us has, and according to the species' typical life span, it could still be here long after many of us are gone.

What a shame it would be to cut it down.

When the Times Mirror Co. bought the property for The Advocate's new home in 1978, initial plans were for the tree to go. But the company agreed to change its plans to build around the tree. It was the right thing to do then, and it would be the right thing to do now.

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/opinion/article/Thumbs-Up-Thumbs-Down-524907.php