Mural Project proceeds, opening now set for 2018

WINSTED —  The date for the opening of the American Mural Project (AMP), located at 100 Whiting St., is now set for spring 2018.

The project has been scheduled for many years since AMP purchased the location, where the old Winsted Hosiery Factory operated for many years, in 2006.

When the project finished, Sharon resident Ellen Griesedieck will have transformed the factory building to a mural that will be 120 feet long, five stories high and ten feet deep.

In August 2014, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced that the state would award AMP a $1 million challenge grant.

In order for AMP to receive the funds, the organization raised $1.4 million throughout 2015.

On Saturday, Sept. 17, AMP held a fundraising party, which included a jazz band and fine dining at its location.

AMP marketing director Sarah Olson Liberman said the party was held to celebrate meeting the challenge grant. 

“Construction will start in the next couple of months,” Liberman said. “The bids are all in, and we will be evaluating them.”

In an email after the event, Griesedieck wrote that 11 Connecticut companies have submitted bids for Phase 1 construction of the project.

“Phase 1 will be the mill building where the mural will be contained,” Liberman said. “That will require raising the building’s roof and gutting the whole inside of the building. There will be a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done.”

Griesedieck wrote that AMP’s building committee will be evaluating the bids over the next few weeks, and the contract for Phase 1 construction will be awarded shortly afterwards.

Griesedieck wrote that a small groundbreaking event will be held at the start of Phase 1 construction.

“If everything goes as planned, construction will start in November,” Liberman said. “It will take about a year for Phase I, give or take, for all the renovations to be completed.”

Liberman said that the construction project would set the opening of AMP for spring 2018.

Over the past few years the planned opening date for AMP has moved several times.

In an interview last year, Griesedieck said AMP would open in spring 2017. 

Liberman said that Phase II construction of AMP would involve a building across from the mural building that will become the visitors center.

Phase III of AMP will involve all of the exterior grounds and properties surrounding AMP.

Liberman said that, while Phase I fundraising has been completed, Phase II and Phase III fundraising will soon start.

“The ideal goal is that once we begin construction and wrapping up Phase I we will be able to move right into construction for the other phases,” Liberman said. 

Liberman said she could not give a time estimate for when the other two phases will start. 

“We don’t have the full architectural plans for the renovation for the visitor’s center yet or for Phase III,” she said. “We will have an estimate for what the costs will be when they are developed. We are hoping that Phase II and Phase III will happen at the same time. We have been pleasantly surprised with the generosity of supporters near and far who have gotten us to this place today. We could not have gotten to where we are without the support of the people in Connecticut.”

Several town officials attended the party, including Town Manager Robert Geiger.

“The impact of the project is that, once completed, AMP will be interesting to many people,” Geiger said. “We’re turning a mill building, which has been an eyesore for years, into something very interesting and appealing to a lot of people. We are pleased to have an attraction that will put Winsted on the map. Because of AMP, potential developers can see that these old buildings can have a useful life and they are far from being disposable. They offer a practical quality and unique design, something that you can’t find anymore. It’s a nice blend of both old and new.”