Hartford — Preservationists, environmental advocates and state officials on Monday urged lawmakers to reject a recent bill requiring the state to sell the site of the former Seaside Regional Center in Waterford.

The Seaside enthusiasts and more than 100 residents who filed written testimony pushed lawmakers on the Government Administration and Elections Committee to let plans for a public-private partnership play out at Seaside, where regulators want to select a developer to renovate the site into a 63-room hotel while keeping the grounds open to the public as a state park. 

Selling the property "short circuits the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's careful process of planning" and could "doom the historic buildings to destruction," argued Christopher Wigren, deputy director of the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation.

In 2014, Gov. Dannel Malloy pulled the plug on a private developer's long-planned resort that would have left the beach and grounds open to the public and instead proposed to create a state park. Since then, the DEEP has developed its current plan.  

But state Sen. Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, argues the state should reconsider whether it can afford to clean up the site, maintain another state park and own a privately run hotel.

Last week, Formica asked the committee to raise a bill seeking proposals from outside developers to buy the site outright.

"I'm trying to balance a budget," Formica said. "If a private developer is the best way, let's do it."

Formica's proposal came as "quite a surprise," DEEP's Deputy Commissioner Susan Whalen said.

"We've never sold a state park before," Whalen said. "If it goes into private hands, it could become anything."

State Rep. Mary Mushinsky, D-Wallingford, urged lawmakers to avoid the temptation to sell prime waterfront property for a quick influx of cash that could boost a tight state budget.

"Under no circumstances should the legislature allow this rare gem to be sold," Mushinsky said.

Even if DEEP determines the buildings cannot be salvaged, the "state should never give up oceanfront property. So many in the public don't have a place to go when it's hot," she said.

Celebrated architect Cass Gilbert designed the property in the early 1930s. The site served as a tuberculosis hospital before housing people with developmental disabilities from 1961 to 1996. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  

Formica and advocates for people with disabilities say the proceeds of a potential Seaside sale could help cover capital expenses, including housing projects, for people with intellectual disabilities. Before Malloy's decision to create a state park, a sale would have seen an estimated $8 million go to the Department of Developmental Services.

Tom Fiorentino, the president of the Arc of Connecticut Board of Directors, said he had little confidence the state could follow through with its public-private plan. Meanwhile, he said, 2,000 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are on waiting lists for services due in part to state budget constraints.

Melissa Schlag, of the Connecticut Fund for the Environment, urged lawmakers to protect public space and to fully fund services for disabled people rather than "pawning off state properties."

Eileen Grant, president of the Friends of Connecticut State Parks, said a Seaside sale "threatens every park. Shoreline state parks are in short supply. We don't need less of them, we need more of them."

Formica said he was open to reworking the language of the bill to provide further protections to the site.

He noted previous proposals included preserving 1,400 feet of waterfront, walking and fishing access and potentially restoration of the buildings.

"This is not a major selloff of state parks," Formica said, arguing he was focused solely on Seaside and what he described as the state's poor track record of restoring and managing properties.

Formica said previous estimates to repair the dilapidated buildings approached $10 million, which he argued was likely insufficient. He added that estimates to repair the seawall were between $4 million and $5 million. A request for proposals to buy the property would "detail what the costs would be and see if they could be borne by a private developer," he said.

DEEP spokesman Chris Collibee said as part of the planned public-private partnership, the private developer would already "bear the costs of rehab and upgrading of the facility."

Collibee added that despite arguments about "the state not being able to afford issues related to parks ... several of our most popular parks were acquired during the Great Depression, including Rocky Neck State Park, Talcott Mountain, Kettletown and Burr Pond, among others."

While the Government Administration and Elections Committee considers action on the bill, Collibee said DEEP will be working toward seeking bids for its hotel plan within the next few months.

b.kail@theday.com