In my late teens, the Connecticut drinking age was a youthful 18 years of age. As a result, my buddies and I spent time knocking around in the closest city, which was New Haven. Sometimes we hit a place called the Brewery that sold 130-something different types of beer (which offered 125 more choices than our local gin mill). Other times we’d catch live music at Toad’s Place or at the Coliseum, which replaced the arena where Jim Morrison of the Doors was arrested for obscenity. One time we decided to “go hard or go home” at Viva Zapata’s, a Mexican food joint with sawdust floors. Our tequila and sangria tab far exceeded our cash, and since neither of us had a credit card, we spent the remainder of our night busing tables and scrubbing dishes. Those were heady times for knock-about teenagers, and they are ones I wouldn’t trade them for anything.
We walked past the old firearms manufacturing plants on many of our prowls. Lord knows how many machinists were in the Connecticut River Valley, but the area was home to many of the country’s finest. In Whitneyville near the Hamden line was Eli Whitney’s shop. Although Whitney is best known for inventing the cotton gin, Samuel Colt developed his first revolver in Whitney’s factory. A chip shot away on State Street was O.F. Mossberg’s operation, and that was a stone’s throw from my favorite: the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.
Every time we passed the Winchester factory we’d try to peek in the windows to catch a glimpse of anything that might be relevant to a groups of kids obsessed with hunting. After a while, we’d move on, convinced that Winchester would forever manufacture firearms in New Haven. It was a reasonable assumption, indeed.
Depending on the time, between 20,000 and 30,000 employees passed through the gates of the storied factory located at 275 Winchester Avenue. For them, it was just a job but to us, it was where 140 years of legends were created.
Behind the brick exterior and tall, rectangular windows was the birthplace of the Model 66, Model 73 and Model 94 lever-action rifles. Big game hunters made the Model 70 bolt action an American classic just as shotgunners did with the Model 21 and Model 12. Winchester helped the war effort through military contracts as racks upon racks of Enfield rifles, M1 Garands and M1 Carbines temporarily replaced sporting arms.
True Winchester fans know that I’ve just hit a highlight reel, for there were many more firearms and machined products, too. During the Depression, Winchester made refrigerators, knives, reel lawnmowers and ice skates. A Winchester motorcycle, one of two known, recently fetched nearly half a million at auction.
In the mid-1990s, the company moved production just up the road to their new digs at 344 Winchester Avenue and 275 Winchester Avenue quickly became a ghost town. By 2006, all of the firearm manufacturing was discontinued. The once vibrant factory and accompanying buildings were empty and fell into decay. Thanks to the handiwork of vandals, the disrepair continued in earnest.
After production was moved out of New Haven, the shuttered facility fell into complete disrepair and was further degraded by vandalism. Photograph by Worth Mathewson.
Visionaries are usually thought of as forward thinking, but the truly unique ones study the past. Olin Corporation management, the current owners of Winchester, joined forces with Yale University and the City of New Haven on a unique urban renewal project. Rather than tear down the landmark that helped build a city and save a nation, they issued an RFP to learn of creative ways to repurpose the factory.
The winner was a Cleveland, Ohio-based real estate company named Forest City Realty Trust. Forest City is dedicated to the creative preservation of legacy buildings and, thanks to their efforts, the old factory is now known as Winchester Lofts. If you asked me if folks would live in a studio, one and two bedroom apartments where stocks were shaped and barrels were blued, I’ve have said you were crazy.
Forest City has significant experience in preserving legacy buildings. They created the American Cigar Lofts that preserved Richmond, Virginia’s American Cigar Building on the city’s famed Tobacco Row (built in 1901). They later transformed 30 stories of Philadelphia’s former luxury Art Deco hotel, the Drake Tower. And when the L.H. Hamel Leather Company stopped supplying footwear companies with leather, they transformed the tannery into Mill Lofts in Haverhill, Massachusetts.
Each of these properties celebrates the past while providing contemporary amenities that are future-focused.
As there is provenance in firearms, there now is provenance in construction for several phases were necessary to preserve the Winchester plant. According to Forest City’s Abe Naparstek, his company’s focus was on Phase Two.
“The Winchester building could be best described as having two parts,” said Naparstek. “The oldest section is where stocks, barrels, triggers, actions and other parts were manufactured, and it’s a wonderful timber and brick configuration.
“Over time, significant water damage weakened several areas of the plant, so we re-engineered and fortified the foundation, support beams, columns, walls and flooring,” he added.
“Next, we remediated the entire building. Asbestos, used for fire prevention and for insulation, was removed. A firearms factory contained significant amounts of metal, mostly lead and steel, and they were removed, too. It was a tremendous undertaking that took the better part of two years.
“The second section, which basically is a concrete fortress, was built in 1915. Fortifying firearms factories was important in World War I, and this area was an epicenter for work through World War II. While this portion of the plant was quite literally bomb-proof, reparations to the concrete and rebar were essential.
“Construction across the 700,000-square-foot space was ready to start, and our team was ready,” Naparstek added. “The architectural model called for 158 rental units of three different sizes. Studio apartments are 450 square feet, one-bedroom units are 700 square feet and two-bedroom units are 1,000 square feet. Lofts are particularly sought-after, because they offer a lot of character coming from the building’s unique wood beams and brick walls.
“I’m frequently asked if there are condominium units available and there are not. The model agreed upon by the Olin Corporation, the neighboring Yale University and the City of New Haven is for historical preservation. As a result, the Winchester Lofts is a non-profit, which makes it a true public/private partnership.”
To authentically decorate common areas, a team of interior designers scoured the country to find commercial artwork that reflected Winchester’s firearms tradition.
“There was a lot of sporting art in the general area, and we sourced many pictures and posters from the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming,” Naparstek said. “The curators in Wyoming provided us with patents, pictures, trade and consumer advertising and many other vintage artwork and artifacts. The designers focused on embracing the company’s rich manufacturing history. And now, all of the residents feel like they are part of something much more important. Not only are the Winchester Lofts somewhat of a living museum, but it’s also a link to our past.”
Winchester had several buildings that created an entire complex. In keeping with the preservation trend, the original corporate executive building along with other specialty buildings have been preserved as well. Yale University participated in the creation of what is called Science Par, where classrooms, laboratories an even the printing for their university press are located. Once completed, the factory will look similar to as it did when the tens of thousands of employees walked through the various gates.
The last time I saw the Winchester factory was between three and four decades ago. What I viewed was a tragedy of unspoken volumes, one unworthy of an iconic America company. Windowpanes at higher levels were smashed, allowing rain, snow and bitter winter winds to enter the hallowed building. Windows on the lower levels were boarded up with sheet plywood to keep out vandals. They did not succeed in keeping them out—they never do—and the interior was covered in offensive graffiti.
As a kid I was taught never to discuss three topics in polite company as they would be offensive to someone: sex, politics and religion. Murals on crumbling walls were devoted to all three themes and portrayed in disgustingly gruesome detail. Any sane developer equipped with an accounting team would have called for a total teardown of the pipes hanging from the ceilings, pull down the dilapidated walls and remove ever rusted fixture.
A ground-up approach was needed, but it would be one that would replace the distinctive, crumbling brick with a modern replacement probably made from steel and glass. Thankfully, Forest City won the contract.
In 2018, I had a brief tour of the overhauled factory, and it was about as amazing a transformation as I’ve witnessed. The exterior of the factory from the foundation to the roof has been cleaned from spray paint, re-painted and authentically refurbished. The common area is different from its original and functional structure and was bursting with color. Tastefully appointed units revealed a combination of texture from wooden beams, exposed brick, glass windows and all the amenities preferred by people of today.
The nostalgic side of me wished for the building to have been converted into a museum. I’d have loved to see where trigger assemblies, hammers, springs and stocks were manufactured and racks of firearms were assembled. No doubt, that is an unrealistic view, so seeing tasteful apartments where people can live in what is a hallowed American institution is the next best option. That Forest City remained true to Winchester’s roots through artwork and vintage advertising is enough.
The city of New Haven has played home to many important developments. If you enjoy a glass of wine with tonight’s dinner, then thank Philios Blake who patented the first corkscrew in 1860. The hamburger was invented at Louis’ Lunch, and lollipops, Erector Sets and Frisbees were created not far away.
To my mind, that’s what makes the Winchester Lofts so unique. Not only are they stunningly contemporary accommodations, but they also keep our sporting heritage alive. All you need to do is to walk through the front door.