Contractor Hired to Build Fishing Platform on Housatonic River and Construction Set to Start Soon
The City of Derby has awarded a $497,246 contract to Terry Contracting & Materials Inc. of Riverhead, New York, to build a long-awaited fishing and viewing platform on O’Sullivan’s Island overlooking the Housatonic River.
City officials awarded the contract on Jan. 27, and city leaders expect that construction to start within the next few weeks. The goal is to finish work so people can use the platform later this year. The platform will be 80 feet across, 16 feet wide, and extend 30 feet into the river. In addition, the plans include four benches.
“I am pleased that we can bring this long-awaited project to construction. As an avid fisherman myself, I look forward to our residents beginning to enjoy an expanded opportunity to enjoy the Housatonic River. Hopefully, this provides a catalyst for increased use of the Greenway and O’Sullivan’s Island,” said Mayor Richard Dziekan.
The Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments (NVCOG) is managing the grants that are paying for the project and working with the City of Derby and HRP Associates to see the project to completion.
Grants from state and federal agencies are paying for the project. That includes a $325,000 grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has also provided a grant of $204,252, with the funding coming from the Federal Sport Fish Restoration Program.
O’Sullivan’s Island is a peninsula at the confluence of the Housatonic and Naugatuck Rivers under the Route 8 bridge that connects Derby and Shelton. The fishing platform will add to the public amenities on the site. Those include the O’Sullivan’s Island Recreation Park, which reopened to the public in 2009 after being closed for more than twenty years. Another attraction is a section of the Naugatuck River Greenway trail through the site’s northern edge that opened in 2013.
