PRESTON — Residents are being asked what they would like to see at 16 Halls Mill Road as regional and local planners evaluate the property’s environmental conditions and possible future uses.
An October 22 notice on Preston’s official website directs readers to a Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments survey and project fact sheet. The 12.67-acre property is being studied through SECOG’s EPA Brownfields Program, with environmental assessments, market analysis and public feedback intended to guide reuse strategies.
The town-hosted fact sheet describes the site as underutilized commercial property. It lists environmental assessment and community engagement as in progress, with reuse planning, remediation and redevelopment opportunities still ahead. The document identifies SECOG’s EPA Brownfields Coalition Grant as the funding source.
Commercial development, mixed-use development, open space and recreation, and community services are presented as possibilities. They are not approved projects. The fact sheet says eventual concepts will depend on environmental findings, market conditions and community input; it does not announce construction, a chosen developer or a final reuse decision.
The fact sheet traces the property to a woolen mill established in 1857, followed by the Piela family’s purchase for motor-repair operations in 1946 and a major fire in 1978. It says portions of the historic mill buildings continue to serve motor repair and electrical-equipment storage.
Readers can open the linked town-hosted fact sheet and use its survey QR code. Neither the municipal notice nor the fact sheet reviewed for this report states a survey closing date. The fact sheet itself is undated; October 22 is the town notice’s posting date, not an inferred assessment start date.