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Clinton Station at Former Unilever Site Ready to Go

David A. Mack Properties, LLC, has submitted an application for a special exemption to allow the site of the former Unilever property for recreational use as part of the proposed Clinton Station. The plans include ice rinks, as well as several other sporting facilities, and more.

The public hearing was continued to June 1 in order for the traffic patterns to be reviewed by the Town of Clinton. The application went to a vote in front of the Zoning Board on Monday, June 8 (after press time).

“If it passes, they’re ready to go to work,” said First Selectman Willie Fritz. “They have everything lined up and ready to go. It’s exciting.”

David Mack, who has been in business for more than 40 years, noted that while there are many ideas of what will be housed at Clinton Station—including facilities for baseball, soccer, multi-use, athletic training, and more—the twin ice rinks are the only ones set in stone at this point.

“We are interviewing various operators of soccer, baseball, and other facilities,” said Mack. “We’ve had interest from numerous operators and have taken our time to evaluate each as we want to get the best operator for each field.”

Once the spaces are leased, Mack knows it is important to open each component of Clinton Station at the appropriate time for the sport. Due to the vast amount of work that needs to go into the ice rink, that will be the first project to get started.

“The ice rinks are the most important part of the project right now, mostly because of the space needed and work necessary to do within the building,” said Mack. “You need to change some of the structure internally by removing some columns and supplying structural support. We have so many things we need to do, including demolition within the building to clean it up for some of the proposed future uses.”

Despite the large to-do list, Mack is hoping to open the doors to the ice rinks in January 2016, following soon after with the other sports components as well, along with the possibility of an office building in the free-standing building on the property.

Mack, whose office is located in Southport and who does business in seven states, said that the sports complex will be the first that David A. Mack Properties, LLC, is a part of, but he noted that the business is a “jack of all trades,” with apartments, shopping centers, office buildings, and more to its name.

Mack is excited to house this project in Clinton, not only because of its location, but the size of the building and the 35-acre lot, as well.

“There are a whole bunch of things that got us there,” said Mack. “The size of the building lent itself to these various sports venues, and there’s a hole in the market as far as sports operations there. This location was economically viable, close to I-95, and directly on the train line so people can reach it with public transportation. It’s smack-dab in the center of the shoreline market, so we’ll be drawing from both sides.”