Bridgeport officials expect to meet this month with representatives from Scale Microgrids, the New Jersey-based energy company that owns a $100 million clean energy plant in the South End that some have called “a monstrosity,” to discuss how the structure can be made more aesthetically pleasing.
Thomas Gaudett, the city’s chief administrative officer, who was among those who met initially with Scale officials on Feb. 5, said Scale officials were “extremely receptive to our ideas and will be working with us over the coming weeks to formalize some of the proposals that we put forth.”
Proposals discussed at that meeting include “closing in upper portions of the structure with perhaps a large mural and lighting. Conceptual designs were thrown out for consideration, but those discussions were preliminary,” Gaudett said.
The nearly completed building sits alongside Interstate 95, a design element some residents find unappealing.
Jorge Cruz, deputy majority leader of the City Council, who lives around the corner from the project, said he is very disappointed by the height of the structure.
“It was not in the original presentation. It was supposed to go below the highway, not higher,” Cruz said.
Nicole Green, Scale’s head of marketing, said the company is committed to hearing the community and working towards a solution.
The Feb. 5 meeting included City Council members, local clergy members as well as residents of the South End.
“We collectively agreed that this project greatly benefits Bridgeport, a community burdened by fossil fuel energy generation for decades by providing sustainable, clean energy alternatives,” Gaudett said.
“Whatever we do, our goal is to make the structure look aesthetically pleasing and welcoming as people drive by on I-95,” he added. “The ultimate design, however, will depend on what is feasible from an engineering perspective, does not create new fire hazards and will get the approval of the Connecticut Siting Council.”
Cruz said one of the proposals made at that Feb. 5 meeting was to establish a scholarship for students.
Senior Pastor Michon White-Bernard of the Cathedral of Praise, suggested adding a mural for the structure, and Jonathan Delgado, senior economic development associate in the Office of Planning and Economic Development, will work together on the aesthetics, he said.
Once operational, the plant will utilize fuel cells to produce hydrogen, then use that hydrogen to produce electricity without combustion, reducing air pollution. The process also produces heat that will be sent through a 1.6-mile loop to heat the University of Bridgeport, Approved Storage and Waste Hauling, and the former Bassick High School.
