Waterford ― The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection will hold a workshop on Oct. 17 to have members of the public weigh in on the design of the new version of Seaside State Park.

The meeting, which will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Town Hall auditorium, is the last step in a series of public outreach initiatives taken by DEEP to help it implement a Passive Park Project plan for Seaside, according to DEEP officials.

After exploring options for what to do with the property and historic buildings there ― which have deteriorated since Seaside Sanatorium was closed in 1996 and subsequently purchased by the state ― DEEP in 2023 announced its Passive Park Concept, which it says would improve visitors’ ability to access the waterfront and protect the site from coastal flooding.

According to DEEP, which has committed to use $7.1 million in American Rescue Plan Act pandemic relief funds for the project, it would remove the deteriorated buildings, improve the shoreline and parking areas and add bathrooms, walking trails and picnic areas. New features that would memorialize and commemorate the architecture and the historic significance of the site would be added.

DEEP says the feedback from members of the public will be used to help prepare the design for the new park.

But the park plan is not a given.

In April, Mark Steiner, a developer who has long desired to transform some of the Seaside buildings into upscale housing while preserving public access to the shoreline, filed a Hartford Superior Court lawsuit in which he blamed the state’s neglect to care for the buildings as the reason they deteriorated. He sought an injunction preventing the demolition of five historic buildings designed by famed architect Cass Gilbert.

The court has yet to decide whether Steiner has met the necessary conditions to sue the state under the doctrine of sovereign immunity. Under the doctrine, a state cannot be sued in federal and state court without its consent.

It’s not the first time Steiner has sued the state.

In 2010, the state had agreed to sell Steiner the property, contingent on Steiner acquiring zoning approval from the town for his housing plan. After failing to get the necessary votes from members of the Planning and Zoning Commission, he appealed their decision.

But his contract with the state ended shortly after his appeal of the commission’s decision when former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced that Seaside would be designated as a state park. Steiner claimed the state broke the contract, and seven years later, he got approval from the state Office of the Claims Commissioner to sue it for $20 million in damages.

The state ended up settling the case in July for $2 million, Steiner said, adding he’d used the money to pay back a creditor.

In the meantime, DEEP in 2016 had already presented a master plan for a new park that would include redevelopment and renovation of the historic buildings on the Seaside site.

Then the passive plan was unveiled last year.

DEEP said the workshop will feature a presentation with more information about the passive park, including the project’s history, where it stands in the planning process, DEEP’s findings from earlier meetings with stakeholders and from the public survey on the passive park plan that was conducted in July and August.

It will also feature an open house for information on the planning process, followed by a question-and-answer session.

d.drainville@theday.com