Southbury, Connecticut, United States

🇺🇸 Southbury is a town in western New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. Southbury is north of Oxford and Newtown, and east of Brookfield.

Southbury comprises sprawling rural country areas, suburban neighbourhoods, and historic districts. It is a short distance from major business and commercial centres, and is within 80 miles (130 km) of New York City and 40 miles (64 km) of Hartford; the latter the capital of Connecticut.

Southbury is the only community in the country with the name "Southbury", which is why the town seal reads Unica Unaque, meaning "The One and Only".

Shepaug Dam and eagle observation area The Shepaug Dam on the Housatonic River is part of a hydroelectric power plant, operated by FirstLight Power Resources, capable of a peak power output of 42,600 kW. This dam is a popular nesting and feeding ground for wintering eagles and hawks, including bald eagles. Near the power station, FirstLight also operates an eagle observation area first opened by the utility's predecessor, Northeast Utilities, in the mid-1980s. Access is free, and some telescopes are provided. Utility company employees and volunteers from the Connecticut Audubon Society and other groups are at the observation area to assist visitors. Advanced reservations are required. Eagles are attracted to the spot because the water churning through the dam's hydroelectric turbine keeps the surface from icing over, allowing the birds to fish. Red-tailed hawks, goshawks, great blue herons and other waterfowl are also attracted to the spot. The dam flooded an area now known as Lake Lillinonah.

FirstLight Power Resources has submitted a plan to the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control to build a new peak-power plant next to the existing hydroelectric facility.

IBM Southbury The largest corporate complex in Southbury is that of IBM. IBM located its facilities between Kettletown Road and Bullet Hill Road, up a hill from Main Street on a 230-acre (0.93 km²) site. Access to the site is restricted to authorised personnel only. Its original design and construction allowed for 1,100,000 square feet (100,000 m²) of office space, intended for 2,500 people (later increased as around-the-clock operations began). It also had 250,000 square feet (23,000 m2) of "raised floor" data centre space, originally designed for large-scale water-cooled mainframe operations. It is an "off the grid" facility, with its power plant taking advantage of jet turbine technology to generate power for the entire site. In 2006, this power plant was replaced with a larger one as power demands increased. IBM Southbury was originally designed to be one of IBM's new corporate headquarters buildings, as IBM's "North Castle" facility in Armonk became outdated. It was never used for this purpose and has been primarily used as an IBM Global Services facility. There are four buildings, labelled A, B, C, and Central Services. Due to decreasing demand for office space, buildings A and C are currently shut down.

Southbury Corporate Park Southbury Corporate Park is a largely theoretical 125-acre (0.51 km²) site between I-84 exits 13 and 14. It is approved for roughly 900,000 square feet (84,000 m²) of zone R60-C compliant corporate offices. The town purchased the site for a total of $5 million. It is designed to attract large corporate partners, or at worst, non "big box" retailers. An arts centre has also been proposed for the site, though this proposal was later revoked in favour of a possible location inside the Southbury Training School.