Stamford mayor proposes plan to build new police headquaters
STAMFORD -- Facing an increasingly urgent public health and infrastructure crisis, Mayor David Martin on Thursday announced a long-awaited plan to replace the city's aging and contaminated police headquarters with a taller structure that would be constructed on two adjacent properties the city would need to acquire.
The proposal, which is expected to cost at least $50 million for the new building alone, would involve relocating the Hoyt Barnum House, a one-and-a-half story wooden building at 713 Bedford St. that is believed to be the oldest residence in Stamford. The house would be relocated to High Ridge Road, next to the Stamford Historical Society, which has owned the house since 1943.
Martin said the city has also secured an option to purchase 671 Bedford St., which belongs to the Law Offices of Plotnick & Plotnick. The two-story building, which is described in land use records as an office/apartment, sits on less than two-tenths of an acre.
The plan would give the city the option of selling the current police headquarters site at Bedford and Hoyt Streets, and as a result, help defray the cost of what is expected to be an expensive redevelopment that the mayor said will impair Stamford's ability to finance other capital projects for the next several years.
"This is a tricky thing to do," Martin said during a news conference at the police headquarters, where he was flanked by the city's police chief, Jonathan Fontneau, the director of public safety, Ted Jankowski and the chairwoman of the Stamford Historical Society, Pam Coleman. "I assume there will be some bumps in the road, but I am confident we will work them out."
Martin said he could not provide any exact cost estimates for the land acquisitions, but said the purchase of 671 Bedford would be "substantially" less than a $1 million. Moving the Hoyt Barnum House, he said, should cost a few hundred thousand dollars. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Groton school plan would cost town $69.6M
Groton — Building one new middle school and renovating the town's two existing middle schools into elementary schools would cost about $164.4 million, of which about $69.6 million would be paid for by Groton taxpayers, a consultant reported Thursday. The estimates, provided to the School Facilities Initiative Task Force, assume Groton would receive the maximum reimbursement from the state, including 80 percent for renovation of West Side Middle School, because the district is correcting a racial imbalance. The new middle school is part of a larger plan to deal with Groton's aging schools, create racial balance in the district and make it more competitive with other school districts. Under the plan, Carl C. Cutler Middle School and West Side Middle School would be renovated and converted into elementary schools for students in pre-kindergarten through grade 5. The district would close three elementary schools that need substantial renovation: Claude Chester, Pleasant Valley and S.B. Butler schools. Students in those schools would be reassigned.
Educational consultants Milone & MacBroom and SLAM, an engineering, architecture and construction management firm, developed the cost estimates for the total project.
The new middle school would cost about $81.4 million, with a net cost to Groton of about $43.8 million after state reimbursement, the consultants' report said. Renovating West Side and converting it to an elementary school would cost about $43.6 million, with a net cost to Groton of about $9.1 million. Renovating Carl C. Cutler Middle School into an elementary school would cost about $39.4 million, with a cost to Groton of about $16.6 million. Both new elementary schools would accommodate 632 students in grades pre-kindergarten through 5. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Repaving of Newfield road to begin this spring
TORRINGTON >> The city is planning two projects involving the repaving of Newfield Road.
The first project would repave a part of Newfield Road from the intersection of Guerdat Road to a point approximately 800 feet south of the Sawmill Road intersection, according to a release from the mayor’s office.
The proposed road improvements will extend the serviceable life of the pavement and better enhance the performance of the road surface, the release said. The repaving will also help avoid more expensive reconstruction costs in the future, according to the release. The project may be recommended for construction under the Surface Transportation Urban Program administered by the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
The project is slated to begin and end within the year, should it be supported by city officials.
The cost of the project is estimated to be $521,000, 80 percent of which is expected to be funded by the Federal Highway Administration. The city will be responsible for the remaining 20 percent of the cost. The second part of the project will be the repaving of Newfield Road from Winsted Road to Guerdat Road and the remaining 800-foot section of the roadway to the Sawmill Road intersection.
If approved, this project will begin after the first project has been completed.
The city will be responsible for the entirety of the funding for the second part of the project.
Tim Waldron, Mayor Elinor Carbone’s aide, said the city is taking advantage of the opportunity to upgrade the road, especially since the state took an interest in helping with the project. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Region 16 picks firm for partial demolition
PROSPECT — The Region 16 Board of Education has chosen a company to partly demolish Algonquin School. The board Wednesday awarded a bid of $552,150 to Standard Demolition Services for the partial demolition and abatement of Algonquin School. The cost includes the removal of the oil tank. About six other companies bid on the project. The highest bid came in at $987,000. The Algonquin project coincides with the board's original plans, which call for the demolition of Algonquin's "Wing B," the portion of the building closest to Route 69. The remaining building will be renovated into Region 16's new district offices.
"This is what was originally voted on," said board member Priscilla Cretella. "I don't want the public to think they've been deceived and misled."
The board explained that the building committee had toyed with other options for the project, including leveling the school and building from the ground up. However, pursuing other options would have caused setbacks and cost more money, because the district would have had to start the state approval process from scratch. "The demolition is within the scope of the voted on project," Cretella said. "The board is following the guidelines of what was voted on. There are many things we would like to see at all three sites but it boils down to budget parameters."
Board member Sheryl Feducia said "as a board, we didn't promise anything aside from what was originally discussed." During the public comment section of the meeting, Prospect resident and building committee member Stan Pilat said that as a community member, he would've liked to see a different plan.
"I understand where we are, I'm just not really happy about it," Pilat said. "People would've liked to see something better than a remodel of district office. We'll make it look nice, but it's not what I envisioned."
The work is the third and final phase of an ongoing construction process in the district. The other two phases — renovations at Laurel Ledge Elementary School in Beacon Falls and the construction of the new Prospect Elementary School on New Haven Road — are on schedule to be completed in time for the new school year.