"I still want to do something downtown," he said during a meeting with the Norwich Bulletin editorial board. "The waterfront is spectacular. There's so many opportunities for something to happen down there."

When asked whether he would reconsider consolidating Three Rivers Community College in the downtown in light of neighborhood opposition on Mahan Drive, Rowland said the decision still rests with the community and on whether such a move is cost-effective.

A recent state study declared Mahan Drive the most suitable place for consolidation and expansion of the college, but neighborhood opposition to the move is getting louder. Other proposals include the Norwich Harbor area, Chestnut Street downtown and the Norwich Hospital property in nearby Preston.

"If everyone in town decides that (Mahan Drive) doesn't work and all the legislators and everyone got on board, we'd just go back and continue turning this around for another year," he said. "The board of trustees and OPM and others have steered this thing more than I have. I just said we want to build this darn thing and get it done. I have no parochial interest where it goes at all."

The governor, who reiterated his willingness to help Norwich realize its economic development potential, stopped short of committing state support to any "new" specific college initiative, highlighting instead the progress made in moving existing projects along, such as the Wauregan Hotel renovations and Mercantile Exchange construction.

Curry's approach

His Democratic challenger, Bill Curry, who has characterized Rowland's urban revitalization efforts as failures during the course of the gubernatorial campaign, said Wednesday that he, too, was committed to the economic revitalization of eastern Connecticut -- but with a much different approach.

Speaking before a gathering of local business and community leaders at a Northeastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce breakfast earlier Wednesday, Curry said he would completely overhaul the state's economic development programs, relying on local officials to direct funding to efforts that best suits the needs of the local communities.

"I'm going to give the old thing a gut rehab," he told a crowd of about 95 at the Imperial Room in Danielson. "I want to make sure the money goes to the community level for actual business and community leaders to make the decisions of how we lend and invest money in those communities."

Campaign in region

Rowland and Curry brought their respective gubernatorial campaigns to eastern Connecticut Wednesday, spending much of the day in the region meeting with various groups and editorial boards, covering a wide range of issues, although not straying too far from the central themes each has emphasized throughout the campaign.

In his speech to about 95 community and business leaders, Curry touted his proposed $750 million property tax relief plan. Under his proposal, the Democratic challenger said he could best aid cities and towns by relieving the burden of funding local education borne by overburdening property owners.

Curry said the Rowland administration's emphasis on large urban development projects has not produced the economic development results that were promised while cities and towns statewide continue to struggle with local education budgets because the state is not doing its fair share.

"We have over-relied on the property tax to fund education too long," he said. "You can't make smart development decisions because every town is so hungry for the property tax revenue. This is not about band uniforms anymore, this is about math teachers."

Rowland questioned the validity of Curry's proposal during his meeting with the Bulletin's editorial board, saying the Curry plan could not raise sufficient revenue to support the programs and promises he is making.

"I guess the question the people of Norwich will have to ask themselves is, what are my chances for economic renaissance, better schools, more investment in my back yard -- are they better under Rowland or under Curry?" he said. "And that's probably a fairly easy answer."

Rowland said a more fiscally conservative approach must be taken as the state struggles with budget shortfalls and decreasing revenues. He said while his opponent is making campaign promises, he is being honest by not promising to cut taxes or increase spending.

"How do you really do the property tax thing," he said. "You've got to get a bigger tax base."

rhackett@norwich.gannett.com