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Legislature Considers Selling Waterford’s Historic Sanatorium

Magicpiano
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Wikimedia Commons
The Seaside was a medical facility that cycled through various uses, including treating children with tuberculosis and serving as a psychiatric hospital. It's included in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Connecticut lawmakers will hold a hearing on Monday on a bill that would sell the former Seaside Regional Center in Waterford.

The Center opened in the 1930s as a medical facility to treat children with tuberculosis. It also served as a home for the elderly, and a psychiatric hospital before it was closed down in the ‘90s.

In 2014, Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy designated the 36-acre property as a state park. And in January, state officials released their plans for the project.

Chris Collibee, with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, says it’s important to keep the property open to the public.

“We determined that using the existing structure, having a private developer come in and a public private partnership, and turn it into a state park lodge concept would be the best action for the state to take.”

But Republican State Senator Paul Formica says Connecticut cannot afford to maintain another state park. There are currently 107 of them. Formica introduced a bill to sell it entirely to a developer to build a five-star resort instead.