New Lives for Old Factories: Cheshire’s Ball & Socket Arts

What’s being done to save the state’s industrial history? In today’s episode, Producer Mary Donohue talks to Renee Tribert, Preservation Services Coordinator for adaptive reuse and redevelopment for industrial buildings at Preservation Connecticut. Podcast audio engineer Patrick O’Sullivan and Donohue share some of their favorite places to go around the state where you can see old mills and factories that are being used for fun new uses and we hear from Ilona Somogyi, co-founder of Ball & Socket Arts in Cheshire, Connecticut about an old mill with a Cinderella story that will open this summer.

Connecticut was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution in the United States. Small brooks and rivers were dammed to create waterpower that turned machinery and the state’s textile, precision manufacturing and metal casting industries were born. Thousands of products were produced and the state attracted investors, inventors and immigrants to work in the factories. But as industry moved out in the last half of the 20th century, these cathedrals of industry become vacant and abandoned across the state.

For more information about organizations and museums mentioned in this episode, go to:

Preservation Connecticut https://preservationct.org/

Mills https://preservationct.org/mills

Ball & Socket Arts https://ballandsocket.org/

493 W. Main Street, Cheshire, CT 06410

The Carousel Museum https://www.thecarouselmuseum.org/

95 Riverside Avenue, Bristol, CT 06010

The Archive https://linktr.ee/archivebridgeport

118 Congress Street, Bridgeport, CT 06604

Mongers Market https://www.mongers-market.com/

1155 Railroad Avenue, Bridgeport, CT 06605

Two Roads Brewery https://tworoadsbrewing.com/

1700 Stratford Avenue, Stratford, CT 06615

Real Art Ways https://www.realartways.org/

56 Arbor Street, Hartford, CT 06106

Parkville Market https://parkvillemarket.com/

1400 Park Street, Hartford, CT 06106

Photo Credit: Ball & Socket Arts Cheshire, CT

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This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/

Donohue may be reached at marydonohue@comcast.net

Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history.