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HARTFORD COURANT - PAUL ESSENFELD PHOTO
Tommy DeFranzo realized a dream in 2006 when he opened Mototown USA, a 200,000-square-foot indoor motocross facility on Day Hill Road.
Now the local developer wants to further someone else's dream.
DeFranzo is seeking town approval to change the site into a million-square-foot movie studio, complete with a half-dozen sound stages, a commissary, living quarters for actors, film editing rooms, mills and a paint shop.
On Tuesday he got a step closer as the town's planning and zoning commission, following a public hearing, approved several amendments to its regulations that allow the proposal to move forward.
"I have a partner in London who's been trying to develop a studio in the states and Connecticut was his goal," DeFranzo said, referring to British film producer Paul Taliaferro II.
The project, which if approved would be built over about 18 months beginning in April, would employ 300 people full time and 100 more part time. That number would swell by hundreds if not thousands more with extras during peak filming periods.
"I think the jobs that would be created would bring a lot of economic development for Connecticut and New England," DeFranzo said, adding that the studio would be able to draw from dozens of universities and colleges in the area that offer theater instruction.
The estimated $100 million project would also feature green technology, including geothermal and photovoltaic energy gathering, DeFranzo said.
But it would also mean the end of Mototown USA, which opened to much hoopla in June 2006, but closed for several months last summer due to a downturn in the economy and a sharp increase in fuel and energy costs.
"The dream now is to move it to a different location," DeFranzo said. "Now I have a chance to build someone else's dream."
The project still has hurdles to clear, including the issue of enough parking to handle peak production periods when more than 2,000 people could converge on a site where developers plan to create a total of 750 parking spots and make arrangements with surrounding businesses to handle overflow traffic.
"The parking frankly is a big problem," Town Planner Eric Barz said Tuesday. "They're going to have to find a way to address big casting-call days."
The proposal will go before the commission again Feb. 10 for another public hearing and vote on a site plan.
