UPDATED: Pfizer Pulls Permits To Demolish One Groton Building; Second Building Will Be Reused

Pfizer, Inc. has sought and received two demolition permits for buildings on Eastern Point Road in Groton, according to records filed with the city building department.

The company applied on Jan. 24 for a demolition permit to take down building 126, a former Pfizer research facility of about 46,000 square feet, which includes laboratory space, records show.

The steel-frame building at 445 Eastern Point Road is five stories, including the basement, the demolition permit said. The method listed to take it down is shears. A demolition contractor has not been chosen yet, the permit said.

Building Official Carlton Smith approved the permit on March 29.

On Dec. 2, 2011, the company also applied for a demolition permit for building 156, part of the same campus on 445 Eastern Point Road.  The two-story building is structural steel and masonry, and the method to dismantle it was listed as hand tools.

Smith said the company plans to demolish the inside and then retrofit the building for another use.  Smith said he issued a new permit last Friday so the company could do additional work, but declined to specify details.

“They’re actually putting something in there that’s a re-use,” he said.

Pfizer did not immediately respond to an e-mail request for comment.

That demolition permit for Building 156 was approved Dec. 23, 2011. Utilities were disconnected to the building on Dec. 2, 2011, according to city documents.

Building 126 was among three buildings Pfizer had begun marketing for lease or sale last winter. Jonathan Putnam, executive director of Cushman & Wakefield in Hartford, said in December, 2011 he was marketing buildings 126, 286 and 118 - the south campus of Pfizer – to prospective tenants.

Pfizer Spokeswoman Kristen Neese said at that time the company was evaluating ways to consolidate in Groton.

"As we address the changing needs of our business, we will vacate certain buildings at our Groton site, in part or in whole, to make the most efficient use of the buildings and equipment," she said in a prepared statement then. 

Pfizer is the largest taxpayer in Groton, and owned $597.3 million of taxable assessed value in 2010, accounting for 14.5 percent of the “grand list”, or the tax base in town.

The company announced in 2010 that it would cut up to 1,100 jobs within the next two years – 25 percent of its local workforce - in an effort to save costs and streamline operations.

The company is the third largest employer in Groton, after the Naval Submarine Base and Electric Boat.have a relative who works for it or know someone who does.