Apr. 28—MYSTIC — Officials from Groton and Stonington, which share the Mystic area, spoke Friday about the challenges and opportunities the region faces with the expansion at Electric Boat and Mystic as a major tourist destination.

More than 100 people attended the "State of Groton and Stonington" event hosted by the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut and the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce at the Hilton Mystic.

Housing, parking, resilience

City of Groton Mayor Keith Hedrick said that with Electric Boat's plan to increase hiring, the potential for new customers is great for the business community. But he also said the uptick in employees brings parking challenges, which the city and Electric Boat are collaborating to address. Speeding, pedestrian safety and the need for more housing pose additional challenges.

Hedrick said that while everybody worries about Pfizer's continuing presence in the region, the pharmaceutical company is converting office space to lab space, and the infrastructure investments signal Pfizer's commitment to stay here.

During his remarks, Hedrick also thanked the firefighters and police officers who responded to the major accident last week on the Gold Star Memorial Bridge.

He said agencies will convene next week in a post-review session to talk about the lessons learned from the incident.

Groton Town Manager John Burt said that while quite a lot of housing is in the works, the town still needs more.

There are 304 apartments proposed for the former William Seely School, another 64 at the former Colonel Ledyard School, 115 units at the former Groton Inn & Suites on Gold Star Highway, 201 units on Drozdyk Drive connecting to The Ledges, 60 units at the former Days Inn on Route 184, and more than 20 units at Bridge Landing on Poquonnock Road, according to his presentation.

Resilience is also a big focus, Burt said. The town is midway through the development of a Downtown Mystic Resiliency and Sustainability Plan and is just starting a climate action plan. A youth climate summit is being planned for the fall.

Mystic popular destination

On Friday, USA TODAY named Mystic as number four on its list of top 10 summer travel destinations.

"We are so thrilled to be recognized in this national survey of travel destinations and that the readers of USA TODAY voted for Mystic at such a high level," Bruce Flax, president, Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement.

In a statement, Gov. Ned Lamont called Mystic an "amazing place to live and visit."

"They've got something special happening in Mystic and it's high time people across the nation and globe start hearing about it," he said.

Burt said during his presentation that the town has expanding businesses, from growth at ThayerMahan to the addition of a rooftop deck at Mystic Pizza.

Burt said the town's police department is fully staffed for the first time in years, thanks to the Human Resources department looking very hard to find candidates.

"We are going to be putting a lot more personnel in downtown Mystic this summer to help with parking so that's going to be a big focus this summer," he added.

Mystic Seaport Museum President Peter Armstrong highlighted the Mystic Express, a boat to take people from the bridge to Mystic Seaport and back again; the construction of a new hotel on Seaport property; and a major exhibition that the museum will stage in its Collections Research Center.

Armstrong said the Seaport is a big part of the community and wants to become even more involved.

Community collaboration

Stonington First Selectman Danielle Chesebrough said she, Stonington Superintendent of Schools Mary Anne Butler and Stonington Police Chief Jay DelGrosso meet regularly to discuss the community as a whole.

Butler highlighted aspects of the school district, including the vision for all high-school seniors "to be ready for employment, enlistment or enrollment." She said Stonington is the first district in the state to offer a pre-credentialing program in the construction trades for students.

Chesebrough highlighted projects in the community achieved through collaboration and wants to bring in more nonprofits and businesses into schools and town projects.

"I think like so many other communities nothing is possible without teamwork, and we're stronger when we work together," Chesebrough said. "I don't think it'll surprise anybody in the room that we're kind of at an alarming point in our country where we're divided, we're often seeing each other not in the best light, and so, in our own small way in our community, we're trying to change that, and we're trying to bring people together."

k.drelich@theday.com