New Pier 31 Opens At Groton Sub Base

Gov. Dannel Malloy helped cut the ribbon Thursday on the new Pier 31, a $36 million investment at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton.

The 500-foot-long, 65-foot-wide pier was paid for by the Navy and is double the width of the pier it replaced.

Malloy said the state has an additional $29 million that it could invest if the Navy brought forward projects.

“Quite frankly, if you could get something going next week, I’d come and break ground for it,” he said Thursday.

The submarine base has been a focus of discussion lately BRAC stands for "Base Realignment and Closure Commission", and its makes recommendations about which bases should close.

Groton’s sub base was targeted for partial closure during BRAC in 1993 and total closure in 2005, but congressional leaders and the community organized and prevented the cuts.

Congressional leaders have said another BRAC will not pass Congress and is "dead on arrival". But Bob Ross, executive director of the Connecticut Office of Military Affairs, has said , even if BRAC is avoided in the short term.

Groton’s sub base is home to 15 attack submarines and 22,000 active duty military, reservists, retirees and civilian employees.

Malloy said the state is committed to its relationship with the Navy and base.

In September 2009, Connecticut invested $7.65 million to support construction of a new Diver Support Facility and to modernize a boiler at the power plant at the base. In December 2010, the state made a second investment of $3.22 million to support a culinary training center and add to Nimitz Hall.

Malloy and Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman toured the culinary area Thursday, which replicates a galley kitchen in a Virginia-class submarine.

Malloy said these financial commitments, along with the $10 million investment at Electric Boat in Groton, exemplify the relationship between the Navy and the state.

“This relationship is important to all the people of Connecticut because it represents our history, it represents our pride in our military and it represents our future,” he said.