Rainy Day Torrington

In an example of that mental alchemy in which coinciding but unconnected input yields an unexpected result, the combination of a rainy late winter afternoon in western Connecticut and a story we published this week in the March issue of our LCT magazine (http://www.countytimes.com/) about a new restaurant has me remembering time spent in downtown Torrington.

It may seem to some like an unlikely setting for a Proustian voyage of the mind, but the post-industrial city has a downtown of many facets, some troubling---like crime and other unpleasantness---some challenging---like a long, slow march toward an orchestrated revitalization---and some uplifting---like a true sense of character, cultural landmarks, signature shops and an indomitable will among local guiding lights that good will eventually prevail.

Fittingly, the "madeleine" that sparked my memories comes in the form of a new restaurant called Backstage that has opened under the umbrella of the landmark Art Deco Warner Theatre (http://www.warnertheatre.org/). The gloriously restored Warner is home to a broad range of programming, ranging from locally-produced plays to concerts by nationally-known performers and dance premieres by troupes as renowned as the Washington, Conn.-based MOMIX (http://www.momix.com/calendar.html).

Photos by Laurie Gaboardi

Here's a look at seating in Backstage, with the somewhat gritty but still charming downtown streetscape seen through the window, and a photo of a burger at the restaurant.


















I used to live in Torrington, in an unusual old farmhouse in a residential neighborhood not far from the downtown. In the beginning of that time, around 1990, the neighborhood of mostly two-story houses was filled with friendly people, mostly elderly, who carefully maintained their properties and sat out on the front porch in the evening.

My front and back yards had beautiful mature birch trees, I fostered modest but pretty flower gardens, and built out of twigs a grape-vine covered arbor in the back. A brook bordered my yard on one side, across the street was a "pocket park," created mostly because of the course of the brook, and along a parallel street, up on a soft hill, sat a Roman Catholic church evocatively painted a shade of salmon that, in certain light, seemed pink.

It was strangely a magical place in which to live. On weekends or in the evenings I liked to walk through the downtown and the many other residential neighborhoods that crowd up against it. Shops and amenities come and go in Torrington center, and, aside from the stalwart anchors and landmarks, there's always something interesting to discover. In a phenomenon common for city dwellers, a bijoux of warmth and fascination always takes on added appeal and meaning amid circumstances with enhanced drama---during a snowstorm, for example, or simply when it's raining.

Downtown Torrington seems poised, once again, at a proverbial crossroads. Many signature buildings have been under bank ownership and facing uncertain futures. Now, as the city fitfully tries to push forward with the revitalization, a group called Torrington Downtown Partners (http://www.torringtondowntownpartners.com/) has emerged to lend private capital and the vision of entrepreneurial leaders to the effort.

That movement has created a positive vibe among existing entities that are wonderful enough to deserve a more vibrant and welcoming cityscape as a backdrop. Among them are the Warner Theatre and the nearby Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts (http://www.nutmegconservatory.org/), along with the nonprofit egalitarian art gallery called Artwell (http://www.artwellgallery.org/), several good restaurants and other shops. The new high-end home and bath showroom Bender (http://www.artwellgallery.org/) is helping to set the tone, and other longtime fixtures such as Remember When (http://www.remwhen.com/) and Toy Jam (http://www.toyjam.net/) among among the shops creating the type of charm and hometown spirit that the downtown needs and deserves.

While far more compact than the big cities of literary inspiration, downtown Torrington has the history, tradition, streetscape and potential to fulfill its destiny of become the type of amenity rich, semi-urban destination that will tempt many, many residents and visitors to come and indulge in the type of purposefully slow, immersion rich Joycean rambles that are stamped in my memory with the dark, indelible impression of an etcher's ink.

Go to Torrington and discover, and when you're there make sure to connect with the newest and arguably most exciting phenomenon of all---our sister publication, the Register Citizen newspaper, recently relocated to 59 Field Street and has launched the world's first interactive newsroom and Newsroom Cafe. Not only can you get the latest news, you can help shape it, and in the process, help shape the future of downtown Torrington. To learn more, go to http://www.registercitizen.com/.