What does it take to get onto Manresa Island right now? You need a reservation, a signed liability waiver and closed-toe laced shoes. You also have to arrive within 15 minutes of your slot. That sounds like a list for visiting a construction site. Compare it with the plan in front of Norwalk's Planning and Zoning Commission, though, and it starts to look like the long-term model. The future park is also being designed around advance booking, limited capacity and a predictable number of arrivals.
So this fall's tours do two things. They are your only way inside a power plant that has been closed since 2013. They are also an early version of how the island would welcome the public for years to come.
The Sold-Out Notice Is the First Clue
The Manresa Wilds website states it plainly. The site "is not currently open to the public," and access is restricted while stewardship and ecological work goes on. Two kinds of visits are offered this season. Fall building tours run from September 5 through November 24, 2026. Photography Days run from September 19 through November 14.
The Photography Days are already gone. The tours page says the fall 2026 dates are full, and you can only check back for cancellations. Those days are a six-hour, self-guided visit to the buildings and grounds. They start with a 9:30 a.m. safety orientation. Every fall slot for the extended-access option is already booked, with more than a month of the season left.
The standard tour is still listed. Moffly Media reported that it's free. You book it through the RSVP link on the Manresa Wilds tours page. The public listing ends on November 24 and shows no winter dates. If you want to see the plant before the season closes, plan on the next seven weeks.
What 90 Minutes on the Island Covers
The tour combines a walk through the power plant with a ride along the shore in a UTV, a small off-road utility vehicle. The booking page lays out a demanding route:
- Check in with gate security at 1 Manresa Island Road and park at the main building.
- Walk through the office wing.
- Cross the turbine hall.
- Go through the boiler building.
- Climb to the roof if you choose. The full route is about 500 stairs.
- Ride out to the water's edge, with views of the Norwalk Islands and Long Island Sound.
Inside, the plant still looks like a workplace that was left in a hurry. Moffly Media toured it for an August 6, 2026 feature. The writer found magazines and catalogs still open on desks, employee ID cards hanging by the time clock and an empty Tropicana carton on a counter. The coal- and oil-fired plant was built in 1960 and shut down suddenly in 2013. The public had never walked its halls until these tours began. Outside, the smokestack rises over the water. On a clear day, New York City is visible on the horizon.
The Rules, in One Place
The requirements are strict. Read them before you choose a date.
- Age: Tours are for adults 18 and older only.
- Waiver: Every visitor signs a liability waiver before entering.
- Footwear: Closed-toe, laced shoes are required. Long pants and socks are recommended.
- Weather: Conditions by the water can be breezy. Tours may be canceled for heavy rain.
- Pets: Not allowed.
- Facilities: Restrooms on site are limited.
- Mobility: Expect extensive walking, stair climbing and uneven surfaces. There are no elevators. The rooftop portion is optional, and visitors with mobility needs are asked to contact staff before booking.
The Park Plan Is Built Around a Similar Cap
The connection between the tour and the future park is clearest in the traffic plan. At a September 24 Planning and Zoning meeting, the park's traffic consultant described a proposed reservation system. Drivers would book hourly parking through a website and a mobile app, with 200 public spaces in total. Michael Beattie of AKRF, the consulting firm, told the commission, as Nancy on Norwalk reported, that the system would add only two vehicles per minute at peak, on top of the current peak of six. The presentation said that once a time slot is taken, it shows as unavailable. That gives the city "a predictable, enforceable ceiling on vehicle arrivals, unlike a traditional parking lot."
Beattie pointed to Squantz Pond State Park in New Fairfield as a model. He said it adopted a similar system to manage large crowds of visitors.
Traffic was the main reason for the cap. Concerns about traffic on the two-lane roads around the island dominated a public hearing that ran more than two months. Neighbors described construction traffic that, in their words, is already clogging the area. An earlier study had projected more than a million visitors a year once the park was fully running. Public comment closed September 2, after more than 15 hours of testimony and more than 340 pages of written comments.
One open question is parking on side streets. A commissioner asked what happens when someone drives over, can't get a reservation and parks on a nearby street. Beattie said the park can't control public roads. He noted that the city's Transportation, Mobility and Parking department has tools such as residential permit parking, which Norwalk is currently considering in some form.
Each Revision Made the Plan Quieter
The reservation cap is part of a broader pattern. Over 18 months of public engagement and the hearings that followed, the plan got smaller and calmer. Jess Vonashek, executive director of Manresa Island Corp., summed up the changes at the September meeting:
"We've reduced hardscape. We've increased buffers. We've reduced lighting by 50%. We've removed boardwalks. We've taken canopy walks down from the northern forest."
Gena Wirth, a partner and design principal at SCAPE, said the team kept the larger ecosystems but scaled back "the human presence within them." A planned beach bar and a canopy tree walk were dropped. Four of every five acres would stay green. Project architect Jeremy Siegel said the busiest activity would be concentrated in the southeast corner, with the large power plant buildings acting as buffers. A hotel and a bed and breakfast are no longer part of the plan. SCAPE is designing the grounds. Bjarke Ingels Group is leading the plans to reuse the existing buildings and smokestack.
Austin and Allison McChord bought the 125-acre island in 2024 for $40 million. They created Manresa Island Corp., the nonprofit behind Manresa Wilds. At the September meeting, Austin McChord described the ownership structure this way: "There is no way that Allison and I can make money from this."
Getting There Without a Car Is Already Part of the Plan
If parking will be limited, other ways of arriving matter more. The first phase of the plan is the 28-acre Northern Forest. It calls for a new entrance off Longshore Avenue, a small parking area, bike racks, bathrooms, water bottle filling stations and a bus stop served by Norwalk Transit District.
You can try the bike route this month. On October 11, Manresa Wilds is hosting a free 5.8-mile community ride with the Norwalk River Valley Trail. It starts and ends at Manresa, and riders can join a guided island tour afterward. Registration is limited, helmets are required and riders must be at least 10. Because the minimum age is 10 rather than 18, the ride may be the one chance this fall for a family with teenagers to get onto the island together. The optional tour after the ride is a separate step, and the standard tour age rule may still apply, so confirm when you register.
If you'd rather ask questions in person first, Manresa Wilds is staffing an information tent at the SoNo Half Marathon post-race party on October 4, at 42 Seaview Ave. The tent is off the island. The current events page lists no other fall open house or planting day.
The Dates Still in Play
The reservation system, the Longshore Avenue entrance and the bus stop are all part of a plan that hasn't been approved yet. On September 24, the commission put a motion to approve the zoning text amendment on the table. It then voted unanimously to begin deliberations at a special meeting on October 14. The state process also has more steps. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection issued a Stewardship Permit on December 31, 2025. The agency described it as the first of several required state licenses and said the Northern Forest opening depends on local and state approvals.
The project's own FAQ still lists spring 2027 for the Northern Forest and 2032 to 2035 for the full waterfront. Those are targets. The reliable date on the calendar is November 24, the last day of this fall's listed tours. The island has some history with renaming, too. It was once called Keyser Island. Jesuit priests who ran a retreat there renamed it after the town in Spain where St. Ignatius of Loyola is said to have meditated in a cave.
A park designed for limited, scheduled visits changes the streets around it, too. You may live near Longshore Avenue or Woodward Avenue, or own anywhere in East Norwalk. If you want to understand how the Manresa approvals, a reservation-based parking cap and the city's residential permit parking discussion could affect your block over the next decade, Brenda Colon can walk you through it. Book a complimentary market consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
