HARTFORD (AP) - The state on Thursday rejected a $900 million plan for a theme park and movie studios at the site of a former state hospital in Norwich, saying 75 percent of the information requested was lacking.

State officials also disqualified two other proposals for the 470-acre property and decided to offer the land to the towns of Norwich and Preston for $1 apiece. The governor's budget director, Marc Ryan, said all three plans failed to meet the state's request-for-proposal requirements.

His announcement on Thursday ended a six-month search for a developer for the property, which has sat vacant for more than eight years. The state will offer Preston officials the 400 acres in their town, and Norwich leaders the remaining 70 acres in the city.

The catch to the deal is that new owners would be required to launch an environmental cleanup project estimated at $25 million to $40 million. The search process began after Utopia Studios began meeting with local officials to promote plans for a theme park, movie studios and performing arts college.

Back then, Ryan said he wanted more evidence that Utopia's plan was viable. He also wanted to give other developers a chance to suggest uses for the property. "We wanted to hit the ground running in late August or early September, revitalize this property and get it on the tax rolls," Ryan said. "We did this to essentially smoke people out. We wanted them to come through the door and put their money where their mouth is. That hasn't happened."

The two other proposals included a one-page letter offering $1 million to secure the property for a future residential development, and a four-page letter proposing an privately financed educational center.

Utopia Studios, a Long Island, N.Y.-based firm, turned in nearly 800 pages on a compact disc, but Ryan said the proposal "clearly" did not meet state requirements. Joseph Gentile, Utopia's chief financial officer, said now that the state is out of the way, his firm is ready to do business with Preston and Norwich officials.

"I'm happy. This is good news. I'm finally going to get a fair and equitable process," said Gentile, who has been pushing his Utopia Studios plan for more than a year. Gentile said Utopia has $1 billion in financing in place and could immediately write a check for the cleanup of the property. Actress Cathy Moriarty, Gentile's wife, is Utopia's chairwoman.

"Anybody with good intentions would embrace Utopia," Gentile said, adding that making a deal with Norwich and Preston would be as easy as "you get in a room, you bring in a lawyer and you figure it out."

Gentile also said he withheld much of the information from the state because state officials could provide no assurances that information would remain privileged.

Preston First Selectman Robert Congdon said he was "very disappointed" that the state had come this far only to disqualify all three proposals.

"Granted, some or all of them might have been deficient," Congdon said. "But they could have entered into negotiations to see if these groups had the financial security to pull it off. "Utopia shared with the town its concerns about confidentiality, and from what I heard today, they were justified in their concerns," said the first selectman.

"This whole process has been as anti-business as it can be." Congdon said he would also talk to the Mohegan Tribe, which owns a casino across the Thames River from the hospital site, and Boston-based Spaulding & Slye Colliers, because both groups have expressed interest in developing the land in the past. To contact Abandoned But Not Forgotten please e-mail us at abnfco@gmail.com with any questions or submissions you may want to contribute to the site.

I DON'T GIVE OUT LOCATIONS.  I DON'T KNOW IF THE BUILDINGS ARE FOR SALE.  I DON'T KNOW IF THE BUILDINGS ARE STILL STANDING.

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