The Day du lieu suivant : New London, Connecticut • 11

RIDAY MARCH 26 1999 SbeEag Region 1 SECTION Neighbors 83 Obituaries B4 Arts Living B5 Television B7 Beliefs B8 Classified B12 Premiere In Pa wca tuck Ten screen cinema will lure other business officials hope ByJOEWOJTAS Day Staff Writer Pawcatuck oyts Cinemas pulled back the curtain on the newest movie theater Thursday night a 10 screen complex that town officials say will lure more quality development to the Route 2 corridor our hundred people attended the grand opening celebration for Stonington Cinema 10 at Routes 2 and 49 After enjoying hors participating in a silent auction and watching the ribbon cutting the participants enjoyed one of three movies along with a bucket of popcorn and a soda The premiere party raised more than $8600 for the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Cen ter Lawrence Memorial cardiac rehabilitation unit and Westerly pulmonary care unit The cinema will open to the public today Adult tickets are $8 When moviegoers arrive they will enter a large lobby that leads to a long concession area that not only sells soda candy and popcorn but a variety of gourmet coffees and pastry There is even a seating area for sipping coffee Each of the 10 theaters which accommodate between 159 and 313 people have wall to wall screens Dolby and digi tal sound and high back chairs been dreaming about Hoyts Stonington Cinema 10 opt to the public tonight this night since Stonington irst Selectman Donald Maranell told the crowd referring to the date when the town rezoned the area to attract large projects steal a little Steven Spielberg dreams do work The dream did come true because of a lot of good work and good he said Earlier Maranell said my wildest dreams I never would have believed have something like this in Both Maranell and Planning and Zoning Commission Chair man Robert Granato said the cinema will be the anchor that will lure other development we see here justifies the efforts we made in establish ing the highway interchange Granato said Michael Lech the president of Readco the firm that developed the project said plans also call for a 150 room hotel and a restaurant on the site He said those projects may not pro ceed until the state decides exactly how much land it will take for the Route 2 widening project want to make this a destination for people They can come and have dinner and then enjoy a he said jtN i i fK' a MSRlb yic I A Rife 1JBI aLl 'iT UwP rvw mmL 'VW 1 Lech said the cinema will draw people from Groton to south ern Rhode Island especially the Misquamicut area in the sum mer Some residents have complained to selectmen that Readco See MOVIE page B4 TIM MARTIN The Day Ryan Lisee 20 of Voluntown splices together reels to the movie Squad" in the projection booth at the new Stonington Cinema 10 in Pawcatuck prior to the first showing of a movie at the theater Lisee the assistant managerlprojectionist is a part time employee of Hoyts Cinemasand a full time student at the University of Rhode Island NCl a1'' Dumas making inroads in determining fate US giving more attention to Korean War POWs By ROBERT A HAMILTON Day Staff Writer Canterbury or more than four decades Robert Dumas had difficulty finding anyone who would even listen to him talk about his brother Roger a sol dier who he believes has been held in a Chinese prisoner of war camp since the Korean War But in the last year several South Ko reans have escaped from North Korean POW camps which he says lends cre dence to his belief A succession of US officials from the departments of de fense and state have delivered letters to Chinese officials requesting information about specific Korean War POWs in cluding Roger Dumas Defense Secretary William Cohen will deliver the latest let ter next month American POWMIA activists are pushing the State Department to pres sure Russia for information on missing soldiers from Korea and Vietnam The Defense Department is also near ing a decision to exhume 866 unidenti fied bodies buried in Hawaii during the Korean War in the hope that modern forensic techniques will allow identifica tion a measure Dumas has been seeking for several years feel Dumas said just keep pushing along like I have for 48 years but happening now is im portant very important More and more people are looking into this all over the country are pay ing more attention and even the govern ment believes something or they would be giving all those letters to the Chi Dumas said else would they keep asking about Roger? They must have some intelligence Although officials do not hold out hope that Roger Dumas might still be alive they are increasingly convinced that there could be a better accounting of the 8200 men and women missing in action in Korea particularly from the Chinese who operated prison camps during the war official delegation that goes over there carries the United States mes sage that says are looking to you for cooperation as you have cooperated in helping us resolve cases from Vietnam and World War said Larry Greer of the Department of Defense POW MIA Of fice or DPMO we received the same level of The DPMO will conduct a hearing in Windsor Locks on April 17 to bring fami lies of MIAs from Korea Vietnam and the Cold War up to date on efforts to iden tify what happened to the soldiers and sailors denied a final accounting One congressional source said Robert Jones head of the DPMO was told dur ing a visit to China last month that they have no information on the Dumas case but Jones also told members of Con gress privately that the Chinese have not looked for records very diligently Greer said many of the people in high See DUMAS page B4 Yantic lats targeted for aid for flood prevention By CLAIRE BESSETTE Day Staff Writer Norwich City officials will target the flood prone Yantic lats area in a new flood prevention plan that could bring state and federal grant dollars to the city for small projects to reduce flood damage and property insurance costs ollowing state guidelines for preventing natural disasters Civil Preparedness Director Rita rechette formed a special committee that met for the first time Thursday to discuss the plan The committee will apply for a federal grant of about $300000 for flood prevention projects available to only one Connecticut city per year Once the plan is completed the city will be eligible for funding in three other programs administered by the state De partment of Environmental Protection lood problems along the Yantic River stretch from the ranklin border near the Yantic ire Sta tion to the Norwichtown Mall and the William Backus Hospital and the two dams in the alls Heritage Park on Sherman Street The worst flooding occurred in 1982 when residents on Sturte vant Street had to be rescued by Connecticut Na tional Guard trucks and water in the Norwichtown Mall parking lot reached the roofs of some cars The river was dredged in a few key spots but sed iment brush and debris have washed back into A those areas over the past 15 years rechette said Backus built a paved parking lot in the flood plain behind the river and the city Civil Preparedness of fice now must notify the hospital to remove cars and close a gate at the lot during flood warnings Several years ago the state purchased 13 homes in Norwich and ranklin and relocated residents from the high hazard flood zone as part of a $4 mil lion combined state and federal flood prevention program that is supposed to include extensive dikes in Yantic and Norwichtown While the houses have been demolished no construction has begun on the 1 dikes See YANTIC page B4 City road system needs minor changes to handle new Pfizer says study 1 By HEATHER VOGELL Day Staff Writer New London recommendations for improving traffic circulation include widening Howard Street near Walbach Street a proposition that would likely require taking land occupied by one of the most popular eateries Restaurant and Lounge But the suggestions are just suggestions and owner Hughie Devlin is sick of hearing rumors about his demise feel like taking out an ad in the paper: not he said Representatives of the New London Development Corp which is heading up redevelopment planning in the neighborhood have not made a solid offer he said 68 years old Maybe if they gave me a lot of money he said But for now a sale is not imminent he added The traffic report is the latest of many studies' contemplating development possibilities in New London as the city prepares for the construction of 1 Pfizer $270 million Global Research acility which will employ 2000 With the help of URS Greiner of Rocky Hill South Carolina based Wilbur Smith Associates com eluded that the road system could for the most part handle traffic generated by development but recommended minor changes See ROADS page B4 Eccard jumping out of recreation and into politics to challenge Sheridan El Paul Eccard See ECCARD page B4 Index NEWS EATURES SECTION EDITORS: David Coluns mail dcollirynewlondondaycom Phone: ext 389 jTim Cotter mail: tcotternewlondondaycm Phone: Ext 372 Brian Hauenbeck mail: bhallenbecknewlondondaycom Phone: Ext 354 A stone Nuclear Power Station He said his broad knowledge of the town and its citizenry will en courage the and cooper that it will take to propel the town through this period Eccard said he would not discuss specific issues until he finishes his employment with the town Last year however he disagreed with a proposed charter revision backed by Sheridan that would have consol idated several social service organi zations including the Parks and Recreation Commission Under the Eccard announced this year that after more than 32 years as an em ployee of the Parks and Recreation Commission he will retire in June In reaching what he called most difficult decision of my he said he planned to pursue his dream of writing a historical novel based on the Civil War Having reached he called second most difficult decision of my Eccard said Thursday that he will put work on the novel aside to help Waterford take advan tage of opportunities that are com ing to the region through tourism proposed research facility in New London and stability in the defense industry rancis Sweeney a former high school teacher and athletic di rector and a member of the Board of Education will serve as campaign chairman Cynthia Winkler branch manager for Liber ty Bank in Quaker Hill will serve as his treasurer Eccard also said he has been mo tivated to run because of the transi tional period the town faces in con nection with the deregulation of the electricity industry and the con sequent decline in the tax base Waterford is home to the Mill By DAN PEARSON Day Staff Writer pendent Party need to form a public com munication with more consensus and involvement We need a clearer sense of the will and the direction of the Eccard said now there is a significant lack of involvement by important portions of the community We need to bring these voices forward to form a larg er Sheridan who has yet to an nounce whether he will seek a fifth term could not be reached to com ment Thursday night No Republi can candidate for first selectman has yet surfaced ishing boat free at last Salvage tugs pulled the 85 foot fishing ves sel Provider off the beach at Napatree Point early Thursday morning B2 Teen says he witnessed murder A Norwich teen testifies that he was with the two men who have been charged in the shooting death of Gregory Layne and wit nessed the murder B2 Waterford Paul Eccard as sistant director of Parks and Recre ation for more than 20 years and a member of several town commit tees announced Thursday that he will oppose Democratic irst Select man Thomas A Sheridan in No municipal election Eccard a longtime Democrat registered last week as an unaffili ated voter He also traveled to Hart ford to file papers with the secre tary of the state to campaign as a member of his own Waterford Inde Blueprlnt for helping High school seniors in Groton have drafted blueprints of dormitories and clinics that will serve as prototypes for buildings in an African village devastated by AIDS B2 B2 NStonlngton B2 Westerly Norwich B4 Pawcatuck B2 Groton B2 Ledyard B3 New London B3 fife ft'.