Norwich — The “Red” McKeon Occum Park transformed a blighted, charred former mill site into one of the city's more popular parks. Now city officials hope to do the same to a virtually abandoned former playground behind Austin's Garage across Route 97 from the riverfront park.

The playground renovation has awaited the conclusion of a complex three-way property transaction with the owners of the garage, the city and developers of the proposed $200 million Byron Brook Country Club. The Byron Brook development partners own several parcels of commercial land off Route 97 where they hope to attract new commercial development in addition to the golf course and resort.

The City Council will hold a public hearing at its 7 p.m. meeting Monday on a resolution to purchase a strip of land from garage owner Harry Austin for $45,000 to allow the widening of School Avenue, a narrow, dead-end road that leads to the playground property. The state Department of Transportation would require the city or a developer to widen the entrance to this road before any development — municipal or private — can be done along School Avenue, said Peter Davis, city director of planning and development.

The Byron Brook developers hope to build a new road from the School Avenue dead end to the dead end of Bromley Lane off Canterbury Turnpike to accommodate both the proposed Occum commercial development and as the main entrance road for the proposed Byron Brook project.

The city also would convey a second strip of land to Austin that cuts through a vacant lot adjacent to his garage business. That would clear up confusing land records that show the city apparently owns the parcel that was once a trolley line.

A third transaction is more complicated. The city would obtain permission from M&A Holdings LLC, which is a company owned by the Byron Brook developers, to allow Austin to direct any floodwater from Austin's lot to the M&A property. This would allow Austin to developed the vacant lot and satisfy state regulations that he would have a place to direct any floodwater without having it run off the property.

The Commission on the City Plan reviewed the transaction proposal Tuesday and recommended the council approve the plan.

Davis and city Recreation Director Luis DePina hope that the year of negotiations that led to these agreements will pay off in a booming economy and thriving village for Occum.

“When I first started for the city,” Davis said, “we had a couple of meetings in Occum, and all we ever heard was 'nothing ever happens in Occum.' Occum is forgotten. Now, it's becoming one of the biggest economic drivers for the city.

“It's good for the city and good for Occum.”

The technical plans to be considered by the City Council Monday include a conceptual sketch of the renovated playground, showing restored tennis courts, a walking path where now the tire tracks of ATVs have cut deep ruts into the ground, a playground area and a small parking lot where boulders now sit to keep out vehicles.

DePina, however, said those plans were just to show possibilities. He would not make any recommendations for formal park plans before holding a public meeting at the Occum firehouse to ask residents what they would like to see in the new park.

The city nearly gave up on the abandoned playground.

St. Joseph's Church in the village donated the land to the city in 1973 with the stipulation that it be used for a public park. With the tennis courts overgrown, the basketball backboard rusted and a baseball diamond resembling a gravel weed field, the city two years ago nearly considered giving the land back to the parish or allowing the parish to sell it to an adjacent condominium development.

City officials took a back step to consider the addition of those condos — now completed and occupied — the renovation of a large, formerly condemned apartment building nicknamed the “Big Block” and the prospects of hundreds of new condominiums with the Byron Brook proposal.

The Rev. Ted Tumicki of St. Joseph's Church supported the city's plans for widening School Avenue and redeveloping the playground. Tumicki attended Tuesday's planning commission meeting and told the commission the parish council and the finance board both approved the plans last week.

c.bessette@theday.com

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