Friday, August 18, 2006
Will Utopia Live Up to the Hype?
Gentile makes promises to Preston residents
By Stephen Kurczy
Preston Plains Middle School will be getting new microphones for its sound system, that is, if Joseph Gentile keeps his promise.
Earlier this month, when the microphone being used by the chief financial officer of Utopia Studios gurgled during his informational presentation, Gentile simply smiled and asked the crowd of 300-plus if they’d like to see new microphones at the school.
Gentile later confirmed that even if residents did not approve his project at Tuesday’s referendum, he would still buy the microphones.
“Joseph Gentile has no use for money,” he said.
Just like the school’s microphones, the town of Preston is stammering.
Traffic speeds through town to spend money at the world’s two largest casinos, and in return for this negative impact on roads and services, town officials repeatedly say the town is under-compensated. The education budget has had to cut nearly $500,000 from its proposed budget, slashing from desperately needed staff and library supplies.
And then there is Utopia Studios, promising the instant gratification of $12 million in taxes if the town merely approved its $1.6 billion proposal for movie studios, hotel rooms, theme parks and a performing arts college on 419 acres of the former Norwich State Hospital.
There it is, dangling like a carrot, but still as far away as the new microphones Gentile promised on May 4.
“Joseph Gentile is a very smart man,” First Selectman Robert Congdon warned residents during a pre-referendum informational meeting. “It’s scary to talk with him because you’re constantly wondering what you’re missing.”
Jerry Grabarek, a selectman and member of the Hospital Advisory Committee, isn’t worried that Utopia won’t live up to its promises. He has said he’s concerned that Utopia will exceed all hopes.
“You cannot discount the Hollywood connection,” he said on a sunny day last month, walking through the 300 acres of fields and woods that have been in his family for three generations. “People love that celebrity stuff.”
Grabarek has coarse hair, and his hands are dyed yellow from the iodine he uses to clean the udders of his 66 milk cows.
“I can recognize them by their udders,” he said, pointing toward the grazing cows. “They’re like family to me. There’s Madeline walking by, and there’s Lena.”
Since reading “The Long Emergency” by James Howard Kunstler, Grabarek is convinced that car-dependent projects are ill-fated.
The author maintains that over half of the world’s oil resources are gone, and as gasoline becomes more expensive it will become more scarce, leading to the collapse of auto-dependent societies.
“We’re going to be building all these roads and nobody’s going to be able to drive on them,” Grabarek said. He picked up a stick and used it to brush aside the cobweb of branches. “I say in 20 years the woods is going to be worth more than the roads.”
Before Anaheim had Disney Land, Grabarek said, orange groves and farms filled the land. Preston faces the same fate.
“The major farms aren’t going to be in existence any more,” Grabarek said by phone recently. “The choice is between farmland and Ferris wheels.”
Grabarek’s property comes within a half-mile of the former Norwich State Hospital property.
“I’m the one person who has the most to gain from Utopia,” he said, “but you don’t see me beating their drum.”
Even if Grabarek won’t, Utopia Studios, Ltd. has plenty of people who will dance to its tune.
The Long-Island based firm rallied the support of film stars, state politicians, and union bosses – from the Karate Kid to the speaker of the state House – all for the sake of Tuesday’s referendum.
But after three years of site walks, heated talks, and now, a ground-shaking town referendum that quaked Connecticut to its core, it all comes back to Gentile’s microphone.
Will he keep his promise?
By Stephen Kurczy
Preston Plains Middle School will be getting new microphones for its sound system, that is, if Joseph Gentile keeps his promise.
Earlier this month, when the microphone being used by the chief financial officer of Utopia Studios gurgled during his informational presentation, Gentile simply smiled and asked the crowd of 300-plus if they’d like to see new microphones at the school.
Gentile later confirmed that even if residents did not approve his project at Tuesday’s referendum, he would still buy the microphones.
“Joseph Gentile has no use for money,” he said.
Just like the school’s microphones, the town of Preston is stammering.
Traffic speeds through town to spend money at the world’s two largest casinos, and in return for this negative impact on roads and services, town officials repeatedly say the town is under-compensated. The education budget has had to cut nearly $500,000 from its proposed budget, slashing from desperately needed staff and library supplies.
And then there is Utopia Studios, promising the instant gratification of $12 million in taxes if the town merely approved its $1.6 billion proposal for movie studios, hotel rooms, theme parks and a performing arts college on 419 acres of the former Norwich State Hospital.
There it is, dangling like a carrot, but still as far away as the new microphones Gentile promised on May 4.
“Joseph Gentile is a very smart man,” First Selectman Robert Congdon warned residents during a pre-referendum informational meeting. “It’s scary to talk with him because you’re constantly wondering what you’re missing.”
Jerry Grabarek, a selectman and member of the Hospital Advisory Committee, isn’t worried that Utopia won’t live up to its promises. He has said he’s concerned that Utopia will exceed all hopes.
“You cannot discount the Hollywood connection,” he said on a sunny day last month, walking through the 300 acres of fields and woods that have been in his family for three generations. “People love that celebrity stuff.”
Grabarek has coarse hair, and his hands are dyed yellow from the iodine he uses to clean the udders of his 66 milk cows.
“I can recognize them by their udders,” he said, pointing toward the grazing cows. “They’re like family to me. There’s Madeline walking by, and there’s Lena.”
Since reading “The Long Emergency” by James Howard Kunstler, Grabarek is convinced that car-dependent projects are ill-fated.
The author maintains that over half of the world’s oil resources are gone, and as gasoline becomes more expensive it will become more scarce, leading to the collapse of auto-dependent societies.
“We’re going to be building all these roads and nobody’s going to be able to drive on them,” Grabarek said. He picked up a stick and used it to brush aside the cobweb of branches. “I say in 20 years the woods is going to be worth more than the roads.”
Before Anaheim had Disney Land, Grabarek said, orange groves and farms filled the land. Preston faces the same fate.
“The major farms aren’t going to be in existence any more,” Grabarek said by phone recently. “The choice is between farmland and Ferris wheels.”
Grabarek’s property comes within a half-mile of the former Norwich State Hospital property.
“I’m the one person who has the most to gain from Utopia,” he said, “but you don’t see me beating their drum.”
Even if Grabarek won’t, Utopia Studios, Ltd. has plenty of people who will dance to its tune.
The Long-Island based firm rallied the support of film stars, state politicians, and union bosses – from the Karate Kid to the speaker of the state House – all for the sake of Tuesday’s referendum.
But after three years of site walks, heated talks, and now, a ground-shaking town referendum that quaked Connecticut to its core, it all comes back to Gentile’s microphone.
Will he keep his promise?
# posted by Stephen C. Kurczy @ 6:59 AM 
