Manresa Wilds

SCAPE is leading the transformation of the former NRG power plant site on Manresa Island into a thriving and accessible 125-acre park. The park, when complete, will unlock almost two miles of shoreline access and create a unique destination alongside the adaptive reuse of the structures at its center.

Located on the Long Island Sound in Southeast Connecticut, Manresa Island holds centuries of history and ecological significance. Since the 1800s, it has been home to farmland, a spiritual retreat center, and, for 60 years, a power plant that brought energy and prosperity to the region but also left a legacy of air pollution and coal ash deposits. The plant closed in 2013, and for over a decade, Manresa Island has been cordoned off to the public. While it was abandoned, a unique urban ecology emerged on the site: turkeys, deer, and the occasional coyote live in a birch forest that sprouted on the ash deposits, and ospreys nest along its rocky coast. Interior wetland ecosystems caused by roads and heavy site earthworks have emerged, contributing to the island’s accidental biodiversity.

The design for the site preserves as much as possible of this accidental ecosystem and transforms this once fenced site into a park like no other—a healthy public space with water access, public swimming, play space, recreational and ecological experiences, and a network of walking paths. SCAPE’s plan incorporates remediation strategies that will revive Manresa’s coastal ecosystems and preserve the feeling and character of many of its post-industrial landscapes. To ensure the site is resilient, the design expands living shorelines, adds tree canopy to combat extreme heat, and elevates portions of the site around the power plant to mitigate increased flooding and sea level rise.

SCAPE and Manresa Island Corp. have guided and are advancing a community engagement process, and from that, developed a design that prioritizes sustainability, resilience, and dynamic ecological design.

Projected to open in 2030 through phased development, this regional park will serve as a hub for learning, exploration, and community engagement.

Learn more:

• Visit the project website
• “Donors Say a Scarred Island Could Become a Park” by James S. Russell for The New York Times
• “A Haunted Power Plant Becomes a Park. Is This the Future?” by Michael Kimmelman for The New York Times