Timex's Modernist Headquarters: Battle for Middlebury's Future

0:00In Middlebury, Connecticut, a stunning modernist headquarters built for Timex in 2001, sits empty on a ridge, blending perfectly into the woods. The developer who bought it for $7.5 million last year, wants to tear it down and build a massive $70,000 square foot warehouse nearly 10 times bigger. The town approved it for the huge tax boost, estimated at 1.7 million a year, but a local court just blocked the plan and now it's headed to appeals. Timex, with roots in the state since the 1850s, moved out last spring to smaller digs in Shelton, leaving behind this glass wall gym, designed to merge inside and outside, even tracking time with sunlight on the floor. A sneaky state law tucked into the budget targets exactly this spot. No big warehouses near schools or wetlands in small towns like Middlebury, which has just 8,000 folks. The developers fired back with a federal lawsuit, claiming it's unconstitutional and seeking up to 25 million in damages.

1:02Locals in the Middlebury small town alliance are fired up, saying truck traffic would wreck their rural vibe, especially near homes in a school. They helped elect leaders who oppose it, arguing for offices, retail, or medical space instead to keep the character intact. Developers counter their rising home values, up 37%, mean everyone needs commercial taxes to fund schools and services. National preservation groups are now watching closely, praising the building's harmony with the landscape, like a sculpture. They compared to spots near Seattle, turned into warehouses versus a New Jersey campus, reborn for living, working, and playing while saving the land, ties, efforts to get it on the National Register hit snags, too new, no owner support, but advocates are pushing the park service anyway for protections. As courts hash out the state appeal and federal suit, Middlebury weighs its history against growth needs, with the time excites fate hanging in the feast, balance, a true test of time

2:02for this watchmaker's legacy. That's your Hartford News today update, AI-powered, and always on.