Little Pink House_ A True Story of Defiance and Courage - Jeff Benedict [26]
But everyone was bullish.
With Milne in New York to meet with senior officers at Pfizer headquarters, Rowland’s economic-development commissioner, James Abromaitis, dispatched a last-minute, confidential letter to Milne, saying it superseded his previous letter in December.
“This letter represents our continued interest in working with you to craft an assistance package that will allow Pfizer to choose New London,” Abromaitis began. “It is our goal to reduce your development costs and to assure that the selected site provides an appropriate environment for Pfizer and its employees.”
In addition to giving Pfizer the twenty-four-acre mill site at no cost, Abromaitis promised additional land to Pfizer, including the nearby scrap-metal facility and junkyard owned by Calamari Brothers: “We are in the process of funding the New London Development Corporation’s effort to purchase the adjacent Calamari site at a purchase and testing cost of $4.7 million. This site would be provided at little or no cost to Pfizer.” Abromaitis also promised the state would get control of the massive navy base property: “The Department of Environmental Protection will work to assure control of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center to accommodate your expectations for the waterfront area.” And he offered up more money—now $26 million—for the NLDC to buy out and demolish homes and businesses in and around the Fort Trumbull neighborhood.
The state’s willingness to help acquire the junkyard, the navy base, and the nearby neighborhood homes and businesses sealed the deal. The total package from the state, including tax abatements and the improved value of the land after cleanup, crested at about $100 million. That translated to the state’s spending one dollar for every three pledged by Pfizer.
Early in the evening, Mayor Beachy received a call at home from a friend at City Hall. He had important news: Pfizer had called an urgent meeting with city officials and senior Pfizer employees in the area. George Milne was on his way back from New York and planned to address them in an hour.
Beachy figured the news had to be good. He threw on a jacket and tie. Minutes later, his friend picked him up and drove him to the meeting. More than thirty of the city’s top business leaders, lawyers, and political officials were on hand, along with several senior Pfizer executives. Waiters and waitresses served cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Everyone eagerly awaited Milne’s arrival.
Just after dark, guests were invited to take seats around an oversized conference table. Milne entered, shook some hands, and formally announced that the company had approved plans to construct a four-hundred-thousand-square-foot clinical-research laboratory on the mill site. Beachy and his colleagues applauded.
Construction was to begin in a few months and had an expected completion date of the year 2000. Up to two thousand new jobs would be generated by the project.
Milne displayed some bubble diagrams for the audience. Beachy recognized them instantly: he had seen the same ones in Claire’s home a month earlier. Milne pointed to improvements planned for the area around the mill site. One by one, Milne asked each city official to support the Pfizer plan. Everyone agreed.
Pfizer planned an elaborate public announcement in early February involving Governor Rowland. Until then, the company planned to make no statements on its plans. It hoped city officials would remain quiet, too.
At the conclusion of Milne’s presentation, Beachy approached and shook his hand. “Your people really know how to run a development,” he told Milne.
Milne smiled and thanked him for his support.
The following morning, the newspaper ran a headline announcing that Pfizer had interest in the mill site, though the story quoted a Pfizer’s spokeswoman who insisted she had no information about her company’s possible plans to build in New