July 23, 2009

SOUTHINGTON - The developer who plans to build housing and space for retail at the former Ideal Forging factory came to town this week to assure public officials that plans for the renovation of the 14-acre downtown site will move forward.

Howard Schlesinger, of Meridian Development of New York City, spent Wednesday and Thursday in meetings at Town Hall and around the state to update business partners on the $50 million development.

Schlesinger wrote in a statement Thursday that preliminary meetings and other pre-construction efforts are required before the project will be shovel-ready. He said, however, that the fundamentals of the project are sound and the company is committed to the success of the project.