Norwich — At her home in Honolulu, Mary Martill Whitworth read an online newspaper article last summer about the pending deal between Preston and the Mohegan tribe for the former Norwich Hospital property and decided to jump on a bandwagon not yet created to make sure her former hometown benefits from the development.

“I love Norwich and have been sad to see the decline,” Whitworth said last week. “I want to be part of the renaissance. There’s no reason Norwich can’t be like our sisters at the shoreline. We have a beautiful harbor and waterfront.”

Whitworth, a Norwich native and 31-year U.S. Army veteran, contacted Norwich Community Development Corp. President Robert Mills. She walked with him through the depressed downtown district and stopped in front of the former Harry’s Market at 88-90 Main St. with a retail storefront and two apartments upstairs.

On Jan. 23, Whitworth bought the building for $35,000 and plans a complete renovation worth about $150,000 using downtown revitalization matching grants and loans to help foot the bill. The building dates to the late 18th century prior to a 19th-century renovation, City Historian Dale Plummer said.

Whitworth plans to lease the store to her son and his wife, Christopher and Sarah Hamman, who will bring their custom embroidery business, Thread and Ink Studios, to Norwich. It will feature custom products for the tourism industry and a gift shop, Whitworth said. The couple will live upstairs, and Whitworth plans to buy a retirement home nearby.

“Everyone (in Norwich) has the same dismal outlook on Norwich, but I don’t,” Whitworth said. “I have a very bright outlook. I’m really looking forward to seeing what the Mohegan tribe will do with that property.”

The former Norwich Hospital property is split between Preston and Norwich. Preston approved an agreement April 18 to sell 388 acres of the property to the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority for a major resort complex. Proposals include a marina, theme park, indoor water park, sports complex, large sports store, three hotels, senior housing, time share units, a public park, shops and restaurants.

Construction is expected to start in late 2019 and take about five years to complete.

Colchester developer Mark Fields purchased the nearly 50 acres of abutting hospital property in Norwich from the state in October 2015 for $300,000. He has met with Norwich city officials to discuss ideas for the property, but has not submitted plans.

Norwich and Preston officials, regional economic development leaders and business entrepreneurs say now is the time for Norwich and surrounding towns to prepare to take advantage of the project.

“This is an opportunity,” Preston First Selectman Robert Congdon put it bluntly. “Don’t blow it.”

He said Norwich could attract thousands of tourists and family vacationers coming to the Mohegan destination, especially if downtown is lined with the shops, restaurants and niche businesses that tourists seek out.

“A whole different demographic is coming to the region,” he said. “Norwich could easily be a Westerly. They’ve got the bones to do great things. That’s what they should be spending their energy on, instead of redoing the Derbygate investigation over and over again,” referring to an ongoing ethics controversy involving five city officials who attended a lavish expenses-paid trip to the Kentucky Derby last May.

Kathy Warzecha, Preston town planner and a member of the Norwich Commission on the City Plan, invited Preston Redevelopment Agency Chairman Sean Nugent to the May 16 commission meeting for an overview of the Mohegans' plans.

“It abuts Norwich, and we really should know the history of it,” Warzecha said. “I think we need to look into doing a study of how we can create a synergy with the development at Preston Riverwalk and downtown Norwich. We can't wait till the last minute.”

Interest in downtown Norwich has spiked since the pending sale of the Norwich Hospital property was announced last May. Developers from New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and elsewhere are contacting city officials and walking with NCDC President Mills along Main and Franklin streets and Broadway and Water Street. Some deals are rumored to be close.

“I think this goes to a higher level of activity than I’ve ever seen in the nine years I’ve been here,” Mills said.

On Dec. 30, Falmouth, Mass., developer Kris Mahabir purchased the former People's United Bank building at the corner of Main and Broadway for $375,000. Unlike many downtown buildings, the 31,888-square-foot granite landmark building has an elevator and parking. Mahabir said he hopes to fill it with office, retail or restaurant tenants.

“I'm excited that something so long in the making is actually coming to fruition,” he said of the former Norwich Hospital property. “My hope is in the development of that property with all its amenities can increase and drive traffic into the city center. The casino in the past took a lot of that traffic away.”

Water taxi discussed

Two years ago, Norwich established a team of several key city departments involved in development, utilities, permitting and planning to improve services to potential developers. The group, including Mayor Deberey Hinchey, meets with developers and monthly reviews ideas and proposed projects.

Hinchey said activity has picked up recently and has shifted from speculators to more serious interest expressed by developers. She said downtown can become an attraction with two breweries — one open, another on the way — and the chance for specialty shops and housing on upper stories for potential employees of the resort project.

Plummer said Norwich for years has failed to promote to developers the availability of state and federal historic tax credits for the city's many aging buildings. He said the tax credits can mean the difference for developers to meet the financial challenge of renovations.

Hinchey touted historic walking tours led by Plummer and the Norwich Historical Society of neighborhoods, cemeteries and places linked by themes, such as the abolitionist movement or Industrial Revolution. Norwich and the Mohegan tribe have partnered on a $500,000 grant-funded plan to develop a heritage park at the Uncas Leap area on the Yantic River, a landmark for both tribal and Norwich industrial history. A walking tour trail was created last year for the area.

City Manager John Salomone said the city's "great working relationship" with the Mohegan tribe will help with the Norwich Hospital development, as well. He was pleased tribal leaders are discussing a water taxi to make a triangular route from a planned marina in Preston to the Marina at American Wharf in Norwich Harbor and the Mohegan Sun Casino.

“We think that tourists going to the hotels and the new property would be more interested" in exploring the area than the people who are at the casino for gaming, Salomone said.

Major job creator

Norwich already is poised to gain from the Mohegan development through utilities revenue. Norwich voters in 2014 approved a $2 million Norwich Public Utilities plan for a natural gas line to the hospital property in Preston. NPU already has sewer and water lines to the property.

And the Norwich Hospital property has no designated electricity franchise, NPU General Manager John Bilda said. NPU has temporary and permanent electric connections there and Bilda hopes to reach an agreement to provide power to the entire development.

By city charter, 10 percent of NPU gross electric, water and natural gas revenues are turned over to the city, so the utility expansions would have direct financial benefit to the city, Bilda said.

“We're really, really excited about the progress Preston has made and what the Mohegan tribe has planned there,” Bilda said. “That’s going to have a positive impact on NPU revenues and the amount we turn back to the city.”

Another immediate impact will be the jobs the project provides, starting with construction jobs followed by entertainment, sports, hospitality, housing services and numerous specialized positions associated with a major resort complex.

A team of government, human services and businesses recently obtained a $15,000 Working Cities Challenge Grant to design a plan to boost incomes of low-income families. Job training to meet the needs of the region, including skilled manufacturing jobs for Electric Boat and jobs at the Norwich Hospital development will be key, Norwich Human Services Director Lee Ann Gomes said. The group hopes to win a larger $500,000 grant to implement the program.

“It's a systems change,” Gomes said. “In my mind, I'm thinking we need to start training kids and adults on what jobs are going to be available in the region in the next 10 years. We need to align all our high school and jobs placement people to make sure we meet the needs in the region.”

The Southeastern Connecticut Enterprise Region also has the Norwich Hospital development high on its agenda as it updates the region's economic development plan, Executive Director Nancy Cowser said.

“The big thing is we all need to be working together and communicating,” Cowser said. “As a regional entity, we don't see this as a Preston project or a Mohegan project. We see this as a regional project. This is a statewide project, a northeastern project, because it's a destination. We who live here will use it and work at and brag about. People in Hawaii are hearing about southeastern Connecticut and are willing to look at coming here and moving here.”

c.bessette@theday.com