In the 1940s, Joe, Paul and Ed started Kowalsky Brothers Construction Company. Their headquarters was on the Post Road, where Westport Hardware is today.
In the 1960s they moved across the street, to the former site of Patio.com in the Fresh Market shopping center.
A decade later they moved again: down the Post Road, just east of what was then Parsell’s Garden Mart (and later, Geiger’s).
Kowalsky Brothers headquarters, 1141 Post Road East.
Kowalsky Construction — now owned by Jay and Edward, the 2nd generation — is once again relocating.
This time, it’s much further: to Stratford. They need more room than their current 5.4 acres. A spot near I-95 exit 30 is perfect.
Kowalsky — you don’t need the rest of the company name — has been part of the Westport community for nearly 80 years.
They built Parker Harding Plaza, behind Main Street. (Evan Harding — who helped plan the project — was friends with Joe Kowalsky.)
The company dredged and built Saugatuck Harbor Yacht Club. Every year, they provide the trucks and manpower to prepare Compo Beach for the summer.
After Hurricane Sandy slammed Westport in 2012, CL&P trucks were scarce. But Kowalsky Brothers was out early, clearing Compo Beach and environs.
“We’ve done literally hundreds of projects — parking lots, roadways, you name it,” Jay says.
Kowalsky gives back plenty too. They provide many of the flatbed trucks that serve as floats in the Memorial Day parade. When floats were a thing at Staples High School Homecoming, they donated those too.
“We’ll still bid on jobs here,” Jay promises.
Right now, they’re excavating the new apartment complex across from Greens Farms Elementary School — next door to their soon-to-be-vacated headquarters.
Those apartments are a visible symbol of a changing Westport.
So is what will move in when Kowalsky moves out.
The new owner — LCB Senior Living of Boston — is building an assisted living facility.
It will be 3 stories high, 97,194 square feet, and have 96 rooms.
If you think this fills a need in Westport: You’re right. The most recent senior facility in town is Westport Rehabilitation Complex next to Kings Highway Elementary School, clear across town.
Originally called Mediplex, it opened in 1964.
Kowalsky Construction has always been a good neighbor. For years, they’ve maintained the handsome garden at the Sherwood Island Connector, around the corner from their headquarters.
