NEWINGTON - The town officially has state approval to receive a $2 million grant--50 percent of the cost of demolishing the abandoned National Welding building near the Cedar Street Connecticut FasTrak busway station--so now Newington has to finish transferring funds to pay for its portion of the project.

       The state officially signed off on the $2 million grant, which the town will match, a week before the Sept. 23 Town Council meeting, according to Newington Economic Development Director Andy Brecher.

       â€�"It looks like we’re in the homestretch of finally getting some physical work accomplished,” Brecher said during the meeting.

       Brecher said he expects Trumbull-based Standard Demolition--the low bid contractor that signed on for the project the day before the meeting--to begin taking the building down sometime between October and January. The goal is to have the job completed by Feb. 1, he said.

       But right now, Brecher’s aim is to mobilize the remainder of the funds that are coming from Newington. The town has already committed $1.75 million toward the National Welding demolition and Brecher is proposing that the other $250,000 be transferred from the Fenn Road Access Road account.

       â€�"To go forward, we have to buck up on our side for the remainder,” Brecher said.

       The job that the town will be going forward with involves not only demolishing the former National Welding building but removing PCBs or any other contaminants from the ground at the site.

       A few months ago, Brecher announced the discovery of PCBs in 30 to 50 feet of paint--an unexpected find that prompted the need for abatement.

       Other challenges have included the size of the building--around 60 feet tall, according to Brecher--which prompted contractors Fuss & O’Neil had applied for an alternative work practice approval from the state Department of Health in order to avoid the use of a large tent-like structure that is the norm on such projects. That means the building will be taken down â€�"piece by piece” as opposed to the traditional wrecking ball method, Brecher said.

       Although the long-term goal for the site is development, the town’s options in that regard will not be clear until the any environmental contamination is abated, Brecher said.

       â€�"Lots of entities have expressed interest,” he said. â€�"But when they find out that there’s environmental issues, they lose interest. Our main goal is to clear that off. I think we’ll see an uptick in interest once we have a more marketable property.”