Cheshire Zoning Approves Marbridge Project

Despite objections from neighbors, Marbridge Retirement Center won Planning and Zoning approval to renovate and expand its facility at 665 West Main St.

The Bower Group, which owns the center and several others, has plans to take down the original building that is more than a century old and replace it with a new, modern facility.

On its website, the center is described as "designed for older adults who may no longer be up to the demands of living on their own, but who want to enjoy an independent lifestyle that is also affordable." 

The project will bring the center up to current codes and standards, owner Lewis Bower said, and allow for the installation of elevators and bathrooms in each room. 

The current lack of elevators limits the clients who can live on upper floors, he said, leaving those rooms available only to those who are more mobile. With the new facility, all clients will be able to access all areas of the facility.

But neighbors said the plans were too grandiose for the neighborhood that already has had to deal with problems stemming from the center. They contended that the clients weren't all frail elderly but also younger people who suffered from mental disabilities who caused problems in the neighborhood.

The commission voted Monday 8-1 to approve the application that had been before it for months.