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First Manresa Wilds Installation Gets Opening Date

December 9, 2025
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Sarah F. Griffin

NORWALK, Conn. — An exciting, educational, and immersive experience will invite Norwalk residents to rediscover the Long Island Sound starting in the spring of 2027.

The Northern Forest, the first publicly accessible attraction of the newly reinvigorated Manresa Wilds, will offer visitors a chance to experience “a vibrant mosaic of revitalized habitats—including meadows, marshland, groves, and forest,” according to a press release from Manresa Island Corp., the nonprofit organization created to build and operate Manresa Wilds. 

Three Pockets of Learning

According to the press release from Manresa Island Corp., the Northern Forest’s amenities will include three “forest pockets,” each designed with a specific purpose to make sure visitors get the most out of their experience.

Maresa Island Corp.’s press release featured a map to show potential visitors the planned design. Image courtesy of Manresa Island Corp.

The pocket just South of the park entrance is going to be called the Eco-Pocket, according to a map provided by Manresa Island Corp.

The Eco-Pocket will be “a one-acre landscape featuring a topographically diverse meadow that supports both wet and dry grassland habitats, framed by maintained perimeter paths with integrated bird blinds and designated space for future research and education,” the company said in the press release.

The Learn Pocket of the park, located East of the Eco-Pocket, will be a “0.2-acre ‘coastal classroom’ with a combination of maritime and forest plantings, featuring water views and an outdoor classroom, picnic area, and breakout ‘nook’ seating area for small groups,” according to Manresa Island Corp.’s press release.

The Gather pocket will be located in the North section of the park, according to the press release.

“The Gather Pocket, a 0.6-acre forest clearing, integrates shrub and meadow plantings with open areas for gathering,” Manresa Island Corp. said in the press release.

“Its northern edge includes a lifted hammock grove, while the southern portion can be adapted for larger neighborhood gatherings,” Manresa Island Corp. continued in the press release.

The pockets will be connected by 1.15 miles of walking trails, the press release noted.

Other Amenities

The Northern Forest will have an entrance on Longshore Avenue, “designed to safely manage traffic flow and minimize neighborhood impact.”

Manresa Island Corp. is “exploring additional alternate transportation options, including a ‘summer circulator’ microtransit bus to link Manresa Wilds with local institutions, including the Maritime Aquarium, Stepping Stones Children’s Museum, and SoNo Collection.”

Reactions from community members

“We’re so excited to reveal our plans for the Northern Forest, the first chapter of Manresa Wilds, which will welcome Norwalkers back to the site for the first time in nearly 75 years,” Jessica Vonashek, executive director of Manresa Island Corp., said in a written statement.

“Our vision for the Northern Forest shows how we intend to deliver a safe, resilient public resource, standing as a clear example of the careful stewardship and collaboration that will guide the entire project,” Vonashek said in her statement.

“The educational potential of the Northern Forest is extraordinary,” said Dr. Alexandra Estrella, Superintendent at Norwalk Public Schools, according to Manresa Wild’s press release. “Our students will gain access to an outdoor classroom that encourages inquiry, exploration, and creativity, and deepens their connection to local ecosystems and the natural world.”

“We’ve had open and productive conversations with the Manresa Wilds team, and we appreciate their transparency and understanding about our neighborhoods’ concerns,” said Jan Schaefer, President of the Manresa Association.

Next Steps

The current plans for the new amenities require both local and state approvals, including from the City of Norwalk Planning and Zoning department and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, according to the press release.

“Once approved, site work will begin alongside the larger remediation plan, orchestrated by AKRF, [which] will address decades of soil contamination from the operations of the power plant and guard Manresa Wilds from coastal erosion, rising sea levels, and storm surges,” noted the press release. 

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Comments

8 responses to “First Manresa Wilds Installation Gets Opening Date”

  1. MARK SMITH

    Another press release with “set plans” by the Manresa Wilds people with no regard for their neighbors. No mention of the permits that they are required to get. Their game plan is: drop glossy press releases, get permits later. They continue to not engage meaningfully with the hundreds of homes affected by their amusement park. Continue to not address the concerns brought by the residents of the surrounding neighborhoods, and continue to just march onward with no regard for the issues.

    Its a terrible shame that the elected local and state representatives have abandoned the residents in favor of a tech billionaire.

  2. benjamin cherner

    eco dog park?

  3. Peter Marino

    This seems like such a missed opp. A ribbon‑cutting for ‘eco‑pockets’ and hammock groves while Norwalk’s housing crisis rages on? Instead of 500 badly‑needed cluster homes on quarter‑acre lots, with solar panels, EV chargers, and walkable greenways we get bird blinds and meadow paths. The previous administration punted on real development, and now we’re supposed to clap for 1.15 miles of walking trails? Real nice. Maybe Mayor Smyth will finally realize that five acres of open space is plenty, and the rest should be housing for actual people, not squirrels. This was a huge miss by Rilling— let’s hope the next chapter isn’t just more glossy press releases about ‘revitalized habitats.

  4. Mike Mushak

    This is a good start, and should be a template for the rest of this fragile flood-prone site that has been described as “a significant and unique coastal habitat” by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS, 1991), that supports over 200 bird species including 55 species considered threatened or endangered.

    The McChords’ (the Norwalk residents who bought it) should be commended for their unprecedented generosity, but they must reconsider the over-scale traffic-generating boondoggle that has been proposed for the rest of the site.

    First and foremost, the 30-story ugly eyesore of a power plant and stack need to be completely removed, as it was a huge mistake when it was built in 1960 and is still a huge mistake 65 years later.

    This industrial eyesore destroyed the scenic waterfront view of our beautiful natural harbor (and a big portion of the city that can see it from a distance) , and it was strongly opposed by Norwalk residents in the 1950’s when it was proposed. It also became a hulking symbol of environmental injustice, as it polluted the air with carcinogenic toxins for decades (first from burning coal up until 1972, then oil until it closed in 2012) that negatively impacted the health of thousands of Norwalkers in surrounding lower-income and minority neighborhoods of South Norwalk, as well as beyond.

    We should not preserve this awful environmental legacy, just because some out-of-town architects (with the owners’ blessing no doubt) think it would be a cool space for water slides and parties. Maybe it would be in Brooklyn or Boston or Philly with abundant access to mass transit, but not here in car-oriented Fairfield County nearly 2 miles from the nearest train station. Who is going to take their kids to a water park or beach by train, bus, or even ferry? They’ll want to drive right up to the front door, same as they insist on driving their kids to school creating gridlock around every school these days. The parking lot alone will need to be huge, covering what should be restored habitat for the 200 species of birds who need it.

    It would be more sustainable and resilient (and be an awesome legacy for the McChord family) to finally remove this eyesore and give this fragile site the proper wildlife-oriented restoration it deserves, simultaneously restoring the scenic views to our harbor and the city that we all deserve after decades of having to stare at this monstrosity and breathe its pollution.

    Instead of turning this eyesore power plant into the proposed overlit and noisy year-round theme park with indoor water park, multiple swimming pools, new beach, and a huge event space that will draw regional crowds from NYC to New Haven, and subsequent crippling traffic through East Norwalk, South Norwalk, and Rowayton just as GPS now directs drivers to the site, it should just be removed. Most of the concrete rubble can even be left on site and used to build artificial hills covered with native plantings and trails with viewing platforms, just like the firm West 8 did on Governors Island in New York Harbor (called “The Hills”) using rubble from demolished military barracks. Google it, it’s pretty awesome.

    The only portion of the power plant that should be saved is the striking 2-story mid-century modern administration building, which can be turned into a much-needed maritime education center for the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium and our public schools, combined with a much-needed visitors center for the surrounding McKinney National Widlife Refuge. Boat rides can be offered to the nearby Norwalk Islands for bird-watching and education, and kayak rentals should be available. The rest of the site can be quiet nature trails through restored habitat (just like this first phase) with mostly dog-free areas to limit disturbance to endangered ground-nesting birds.

    Perhaps some of the lower-level steel framing can be left as nesting platforms for ospreys and bald eagles, and as a rusting “industrial ruin” that is a fitting tribute that can tell the story of the site’s industrial past. This instead of what is currently proposed, which is basically a combined huge catering hall/recreation center. Great idea, wrong location.

    Lastly, there is a far-fetched proposal from the “Resilient South Norwalk Study” of 2023 (see link below) to raise Woodward Ave by 3-4 feet in order to create what is called a “resilient corridor” to this site. This is another ill-advised expensive boondoggle, which would likely fall on taxpayers to pay for, and that would worsen flooding in neighborhoods on both sides of Woodward (inc. the industrial area along Meadow St) as it would basically create a dike across these former salt marshes that would trap storm surges and high tides by interrupting natural flood dissipation across this entire low-lying area.

    It would be a huge mistake for the city and state to pursue this temporary expensive solution on Woodward Ave, in the face of climate change and inevitable sea level rise. (That said, I do agree with the study’s recommendation to raise nearby Water Street by nearly 3 feet as it’s surrounded on both sides by higher land, as seen on page 88 of the study) .

    The maps included on pages 38-42 of the linked study below illustrate what I’m talking about perfectly, as they show the current 100-year flood level (Manresa Island is nearly completely covered) and the much higher projected 2050 flood level, with flood pathways from two directions shown with blue arrows, hitting both sides of Woodward Ave.

    Even with the raising of the southern portion of Woodward Ave by 3-4 feet as the study proposes (see page 117 in study), in 25 years it would still not be enough to allow safe dry egress from Manresa Island through the 100-year flood plain to safe higher ground. . This is a potential life-threatening catastrophe in the making, including for our first responders, and I strongly advise all state and federal decision-makers, city commissions, the general public, as well as the McChords to study these maps carefully at this early phase of this project.

    The cleanup alone of all this new infrastructure proposed at Manresa being destroyed and pushed into surrounding marshes and our harbor (and our valuable productive oyster beds around the islands) by a storm surge similar to Sandy in 2012 (or worse) would be enormous, and who would pay for that now that FEMA is disappearing under the current administration?

    For example, in Sandy, our city’s fishing pier and 3-foot thick concrete seawalls at Calf Pasture Beach just across the harbor were completely destroyed and turned into rubble, and were rebuilt in 2014 with a $1.4 million grant from FEMA. That destruction at Calf Pasture was only a tiny portion of waterfront infrastructure compared to what is being proposed at Manresa.

    All of this points to a “less is more” approach for Manresa Wilds, in keeping with this promising first phase, and a shift towards a more truly resilient and sustainable plan that has more wildlife than people, and more habitat for endangered birds instead of a giant parking lot and crippling traffic all across Norwalk’s neighborhoods from Rowayton to South Norwalk to East Norwalk.

    Consider this a plea to make the plan for “Manresa Wilds” actually represent its new name, with an emphasis on the word “wild” meaning wildlife, not a slick marketing gimmick which is all it seems like now. And I know I’m not alone in my assessment here.

    This first phase is certainly promising, but the entire Manresa Wilds proposal is still very far from a “done deal”, and no one should be pretending that it is. On this fragile important site, less truly is more, for our entire Norwalk community and for our struggling wildlife.

    This is the Resilient South Norwalk study referenced in my text above:
    https://tomorrow.norwalkct.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Resilient-SoNo-Final-Report_11.30.23.v2.pdf

    1. Becca Stoll

      I intend to raise a family in East Norwalk and will absolutely plan to take them to Manresa via mass transit. Saying that no one will do that in “car-dependent Fairfield county” suggests that we can just give up on fixing the mistakes of past generations instead of trying to shift the culture towards getting around in ways that help EVERYONE.

  5. Audrey Cozzarin

    Manresa Island already IS an eco-system. If the environment there could simply be left alone, nature would remediate and it would continue to offer a natural sanctuary for wildlife. Human intervention is not needed. The entire east coast is privatized: Could we not allow this one spec of coastline to be itself, not traipsed upon nor built up as an eco-park, with plantings brought in and all of the rest being planned? Could these new owners humble themselves and just clear away the debris and let the land be itself? Now, that is an act of courage.

  6. John O’Neill

    My biggest concern with Manresa is the tree canopy. For every tree cut down we should fund tree plantings in South Norwalk.
    I also think the local artist who was not picked to paint multi-thousand dollar mural on MLK Blvd should be commissioned to
    paint smokestacks. While I would’ve thought these ideas preposterous 30 years ago, I’ve now come around to enlightened
    thinking of 2025.

  7. Thomas Belmont

    It was an ideal place for X-energy to serve the People with low cost electricity.

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