Voters pass referendum to construct new Southington Public Library
SOUTHINGTON – The referendum to construct a new Southington
Public Library passed Tuesday night. The town is now authorized to appropriate
$16,900,000 for a new building at 255 Main St.
Southington Public Library Director Kristi Sadowski said she
is “very excited” by the results of the referendum. She said 61.5% voted in
favor of the ordinance to appropriate the money for the construction of a new
library building and the demolition of the existing building. In total, 6,896
voters supported the referendum and 4,324 voted against it.
“It was wonderful and so heartwarming to see the outpouring
of support and to know that, in a couple of years, we’ll have a building that
can offer the services that the community deserves and that we want to
provide,” she said.
Sadowski said the next step is for the new Town Council to
appoint a building committee to work with the architects, Tappe Architects, in
moving the project forward.
Leading up to the election, a “Vote Yes for a New
Southington Public Library” political action committee was formed to educate
residents about the project. This group outlined several priorities that will
be featured with the new library.
The new library building would include a larger children’s
area, more meeting rooms and quiet study areas and it would bring the space up
to modern building codes for accessibility. It will also have more efficient
electrical and HVAC systems.
There will be expanded space for children and teens, with
more space for parents to sit, and shelving that is more accessible for
children.
The proposal also includes meeting and workspaces for
individuals and groups with more acoustic separation from children’s spaces. In
addition, meeting spaces will be designed so that they are located right off of
main entrance, along with bathrooms. This way, if there is a program during
off-hours, library staff could close off and lock the main library.
There will also be a new parking lot with a centralized
entrance.
The square footage of the current library is 25,000. The new
library building will be 36,800-square-feet.
New Griswold Senior Center construction back on track after going over budget
GRISWOLD — After a great deal of discussion, changes, and waiting on grant funds,
work has started again on the new Griswold Senior Community Wellness Center.
The building, located behind McCluggage
Manor, will be finished in 12 weeks, officials said.
“I think we’re on the right track and we’ll get it
completed,” Griswold Selectman Todd Babbitt said.
Tina Falck, the senior center and social services director
for Griswold, said there’s still a lot of coordination involved with getting
the project done, between supply deliveries and the contractors, “to put the
last remaining pieces of the puzzle together.”
“It’s not like the flooring is just going to show up
tomorrow; there needs to be strategic planning,” Falck said.
Griswold initially bonded $7.5 million in 2019 to pay for
the new building. Board of Finance members first discovered the project had
gone about $1.5 million over budget in January 2021.
More:New Griswold senior center vastly over budget as town searches
for funding
After some changes were made, including moving some work to
a later date, Griswold Finance Director Erik Christensen said the cost was cut
to $760,000. Babbitt said the reduction was focused on getting what the
building needed for a certificate of occupancy. The town voted at a May
referendum to continue the project.
To pay for the project, the town received $411,800 in grant
funds from the USDA in July, already applied for by the Griswold Senior Center
Building Committee before an appropriation was requested from the Board of
Finance. Then, the Board of Finance approved an additional $214,355 for the
project. That money went towards a generator and other aspects that were left
off the original request.
Christensen said the project nets out to being over budget
by $562,555, which the town expects to recoup through state bonding. With the
help of State Senator Heather Somers and State Rep. Brian Lanoue, $1.2 million
in municipal bonding was approved in the proposed state budget. They’ve been
trying to get it on the state bonding commission’s agenda for some time, but those
meetings have been canceled frequently as of late.
Babbitt said Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz told him the issue
would be on the January bond agenda. Christensen said that the Griswold Board
of Finance already approved the remaining funds needed to finish the project.
“Worst case scenario, it looks like we’re going to use
$562,555 of that $760,000, so we’re not even using the full (amount),”
Christensen said
Falck said the matter was never meant to be a political
issue, and that with the town’s aging population, upgrading from the current
facilities would be an investment that lasts at least 30 years, if not longer.
As the town has limited space in the existing senior center, groups for playing
cards and pool may have to share the space with the line dancing group, or a
foot care clinic would be in the same room as the art class.
“We have a younger population of seniors that is growing,”
Falck said, expecting a 58% increase in the town’s senior population by 2040.
The new Senior Community Wellness Center will feature a
medical room, a larger café space, a conference room for the town’s social
services functions, a library with a computer center, and enough space for
physical activities like yoga.
“It will be much more professional in terms of privacy,”
Falck said. “The services will be much broader.”
Looking ahead, Christensen said there needs to be better
communication among different parts of the town.
“Everything got worked out, which was the most important
thing,” Christensen said.
Farmington Marriott hotel slated for apartment conversion sold for $21.5M
The former Hartford Marriott Farmington hotel, which
received town approval this summer to be converted into an apartment project,
has sold for $21.5 million and is now under new ownership, town records
show.
The 381-room hotel at 15 Farm Springs Road, which
closed earlier this year, sold Oct. 7, property records show.
The seller was CLP Farmington LLC, which is controlled by
Robert Schlesinger of Freeport, New York, state records show. Jason
Schlesinger, who is also an owner of CLP Farmington LLC, was the
developer who
said in July that construction would begin in late summer to convert the hotel into
225 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom luxury apartments.
The buyer was GF8 Farm Springs LLC, which is controlled by
Yechezkel Landau of Lakewood, New Jersey, state records show.
It’s not clear what the sale means for the apartment
conversion project. Jason Schlesinger didn’t immediately respond to an email
seeking comment.
Farmington Town Planner Shannon Rutherford said she had not
spoken to the new owners and has no further information about the
project.
In July, after receiving a zoning change and site plan
approval, Jason Schlesinger told HBJ that he planned to start the conversion of
the former Marriott hotel into a mixed-used apartment complex later this
summer.
“We’re excited to meet a growing need in Farmington and
throughout the area and develop a new multifamily community with robust
amenities, convenience and luxury,” Schlesinger said in July. “We look forward
to creating a vibrant live, work, play community and becoming one of the
premier multifamily communities in the Greater Hartford area.”
CLP Farmington acquired the hotel in June for $10.5 million,
town records show.