THE SUZIO STORY 125 YEARS OF FAMILY ENTERPRISE PHILANTHROPY AND SERVICE
The Meriden Historical Society is hosting an exhibit entitled "The Suzio Story - 125 Years of Enterprise, Family, Philanthropy, and Service" at its Museum and History Center, at 41 West Main Street in Meriden every Sunday in October from 11:00 to 3:00
Featuring memorabilia and photographs from Suzio headquarters on Westfield Road as well as videos of interviews with past and present employees
Capturing the remarkable story of a 21 year old Italian immigrant, Leonardo Suzio, who grew Suzio York Hill into one of the most successful and enduring family-owned businesses in Connecticut history starting in 1898
Including the role of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation Suzio members and Henry Altobello in the evolution and growth of the business from building (1910's) to road construction (1930's) to building materials (1955 - today)
Highlighting Suzio loyalty to its origin city Meriden, its employees, its vendors, and its community.
Trinity College to start $30M athletic center expansion
Trinity College will be starting construction in late 2023
on a $30.1 million, 37,000-square-foot addition to its George M. Ferris
Athletic Center.
The addition is going on a space that is currently a lawn,
and school officials said the project is expected to be finished by March 2025.
The center was originally built in 1968. The number of the
college’s athletic teams and coaching staff has increased in the decades since,
prompting the need for more space, according to Trinity.
The addition will feature seven new squash courts, an
open-air second-floor terrace with views of playing fields and more space to
accommodate fans.
It will also include a new fitness center, which will have
space for cardio workouts, a free-weight room, fitness studios, a multipurpose
recreation gym and student gathering spaces.
The addition will also have new modern work spaces for
coaches, five new multipurpose rooms for team meetings and film viewing, and
additional classroom space.
The college anticipates minimal disruption during
construction, as practices and matches will continue in the existing center
facilities.
Drew Galbraith, director of athletics and chair of physical
education at Trinity, said the new wellness and recreation center will impact
almost every member of the college’s community.
“We are thrilled to move forward with construction while we
work with alumni and friends of Trinity to complete the fundraising for this
transformational new space,” Galbraith said, in an announcement.
The current squash center at Ferris will be renovated also.
Shelton aldermen oppose Fountain Square apartment plan
SHELTON — Some of the city's top officials say Fountain
Square should have a hotel, not apartments as the latest round of changes to
the developers'
apartment plan prompted another developer to withdraw his
opposition.
Alderman Anthony Simonetti voiced his opposition to Highview
Commercial’s proposal to remove a hotel and an office building from its
original plans for the site at 801 Bridgeport Ave. and replace them with three
buildings containing 148 apartments, 18 percent of which would be classified as
affordable.
Simonetti – who also read statements in opposition from
fellow aldermen John Anglace, Jr., Cris Balamaci and Eric McPherson — told the
Planning and Zoning Commission at its recent meeting that Bridgeport Avenue was
meant for commerce, restaurants and research and development. He added that the
additional apartments could lead to a jump in school enrollment.
“I think they should go back to the original plan for a
hotel and business area,” Simonetti said. “I don’t think we should put any
other apartments there. They should be in other sections of the city.”
Highview Commercial, the project's developer, has filed an
application with the Planning and Zoning Commission seeking to amend the
already approved Planned Development District for the site. The public hearing
has been continued.
The aldermen's comments come as commercial real estate
developer Bob Scinto, who owns property at 3 Enterprise Drive that directly
abuts the Fountain Square property, has withdrawn his opposition to the
apartment plans, according to a letter his attorney submitted to the commission.
Fountain Square developers agreed to modify an earlier
easement agreement with Scinto, eliminating the vehicle access between the
Fountain Square property and 3 Enterprise Drive, which was part of the original
plans presented to the commission in August. Pedestrian access will
remain. Scinto
had been a vocal opponent before the changes were made.
Other changes include creating 266 parking spaces, 90 of
which are located on the ground level under four stories of apartments broken
over three buildings for the apartments. The developers also agreed to
construct a sidewalk along Parrott Drive and replace the chain link fence along
that road with a more decorative option.
Dominick Thomas, the attorney representing Highview
Commercial, called the aldermen's statements about the apartments impacting the
school system "bogus" and "unsupported by any evidence whatsoever."
Thomas instead stated that adding apartments to the site would help alleviate
the need for more affordable housing in the region while offering a more
profitable option than a hotel.
“There will be apartments here,” Thomas said in reaction to
Simonetti’s statements. “Apartments are a necessity to the financial success of
this project.”
Thomas said integrating apartments into the plan creates a
work, live, play environment that he called the “future of commercial
development.” He added that allowing no more apartments on Bridgeport Avenue
“ignores the reality of the current market.”
Thomas added that preventing apartment developments —
especially ones that follow the city’s affordable housing plan guidelines such
as this one — on Bridgeport Avenue could lead to more state statute 8-30g
applications.
"We love the plan and the overall look of the
building," said Dave Gunia, senior vice president of development with
Highview Commercial, adding that the apartment proposal includes features
that will make it "convenient for residents who choose to live
here."
Among the features included in the apartment plan are
the parking garage, a clubhouse with club and banquet rooms, a fitness
center, an Amazon package hub, a pool, outdoor grilling stations, a fireplace,
a picnic area and a dog park.
"Residents will enjoy pedestrian connectivity to the
retail and restaurants in the center," said Gunia, adding that the
proposed architectural design offers a "perfect fit for the center."
Fountain Square developers state the units designated
affordable on their site will be rented at or below the maximum monthly rent
calculated at 80 percent of area median income in compliance with the
requirements for “set-aside” units under state statute 8-30g.
The plans also call for 1.7 parking spaces per unit, none of
which will have more than two bedrooms.
The Fountain Square project was first presented to the
Planning and Zoning Commission in 2017. The project was split into six phases,
and final development plans for all phases were approved separately between
2018 and 2020.
Panera and Metro Mattress are already in place at Fountain
Square, and Chick-fil-A,
long a centerpiece of the development, will be opening Oct. 26.
Tenants in the larger building include Mercato restaurant,
Sport Clips, Royal Nail Salon, European Wax and Club Pilates, Crumbl Cookies
and Fountain Square Wine and Spirits.
The smaller building will include Physician One Urgent Care,
StretchLab, Pokemoto, Jersey Mike’s and Consumer Cellular, plus a national
optometrist and eye wear chain. Goddard School is also coming to the property,
with construction plans recently approved by the Planning and Zoning
Commission.
As warehouses look to make CT towns their home, some face major resistance from residents
Distribution centers are on track for completion or have
opened their doors in many Connecticut towns in
response to rising demand, though other warehouse proposals have faced
legal challenges and rejections from municipal officials.
The decades-long battle between those seeking large
additions to their town's tax rolls against those looking to avoid large trucks
and perhaps lots of noise literally in their backyards continue unabated.
Amazon recently launched two warehouses intended to serve as
the last stop before packages arrive at customers' doorsteps. A
105,000-square-foot facility opened on National Drive in Glastonbury at the end
of August, and a 180,000-square-foot warehouse finally launched near the end of
September on Ellington Road in South Windsor.
The South Windsor warehouse was approved for construction by
local officials in 2019. The developer, Scannell Properties, built the facility
speculatively, later licensing it to Amazon.
Town officials confirmed that Amazon would be moving into
the facility in September 2021, shortly after company signage was spotted
on the building. The Amazon facility did not ultimately open in 2021, with a
"coming soon" sign covering the company's signage for some time.
Earlier this month, South Windsor Town Manager Michael
Maniscalco confirmed again that Amazon would be moving into the space, and said
that he was pleased to welcome another Fortune 500 company as a business
partner.
Over in East Hartford, two "logistics centers"
totaling 2.5 million square feet of warehouse space are expected to open for
business next year, as part of a
series of major developments in town. Development began in March, and
Lowe's and Wayfair are expected to move into the facilities in next April.
East Hartford expects $4 million in annual tax revenue
once the project is completed, which includes the construction of smaller,
100,000-square-foot high-tech manufacturing spaces.
Not all plans have come to fruition. In August, Windsor
Locks officials shot down a plan to build 1.15 million square
feet of warehouse space submitted earlier this year.
Scannell Properties proposed a zone change for a former
tobacco farm on Old County Road in order to build two warehouses on roughly
one-third of the 76-acre property. The town's Planning and Zoning
Commission voted down the plan 5-1, in part due to concerns on the effects
on nearby properties.
Warehouse lawsuits
Scannell Properties have not yet appealed the decision,
though developers and residents alike have fought against votes in other
towns. Litigation over an Enfield warehouse has ended with a settlement,
while South Windsor and Bloomfield projects are in the middle of separate
lawsuits.
In March 2022, Enfield’s PZC unanimously approved a
817,696-square-foot warehouse at 35 Bacon Road. Winstanley Enterprises,
who submitted the application under a subsidiary organization, operates an
existing “logistics center” at 25 Bacon Road.
Neighbors of the proposed warehouse filed a lawsuit against
Enfield's Inland Wetlands Commission in March 2022, alleging that the
commission acted illegally in its approval of the warehouse. A similar lawsuit
was filed against the PZC by a separate group in April 2022.
The judge presiding over the lawsuit against Enfield’s
Inland Wetlands Commission dismissed the case in March 2023, and denied a
motion by the plaintiffs to reargue the case in April 2023. Winstanley
spokesperson Matt Watkins said that a settlement had been reached in the suit
against the PZC, allowing construction to begin in early next year, though the
project does not currently have a signed tenant.
Earlier this month, Winstanley purchased a vacant
135-acre site at 1679 King St., roughly 8 miles away from the company’s Bacon
Road sites, for $4.6 million. Watkins said the "shovel-ready" parcel
has been approved for development of a 500,225-square-foot distribution
facility and a 100,125-square-foot "flex building" with office and
warehouse space. He said construction is expected to begin in early- to
mid-2024.
In May, Bloomfield
residents and business owners filed an appeal over a controversial
521,886-square-foot warehouse that the town’s PZC approved
in April.
NorthPoint Development, the company behind the project,
plans to build a distribution center on a 56-acre parcel in an industrial zone
located off West Dudley Town Road, and has received five special permits from
the PZC to do so. Residents, including plaintiffs in the lawsuit, have raised
concerns about truck traffic, effects on quality of life for neighbors, and the
fact that the occupant of the planned facility is unknown.
The complaint filed by the plaintiffs states that
the PZC “acted illegally, arbitrarily, and in abuse of the discretion
vested in it” by approving the project. Plaintiffs said the application
does not comply with local zoning regulations and poses a threat to health and
safety, and the public hearing on the application was “not conducted in a fair
and open manner.”
The lawsuit itself is in very early stages, with a trial
date scheduled for March.
A South Windsor warehouse project faces a lawsuit with
developers and the town on opposite sides. UW Vintage Lane II LLC is trying to
appeal two rejections of a roughly 360,000-square-foot distribution facility by
the town’s PZC.
UW Vintage Lane II LLC argues in its lawsuits, filed in
December 2021 and March 2022, that the PZC “acted illegally arbitrarily, and in
abuse of the discretion vested in it” by rejecting the application, as there
was “no reasonable basis in the record on which to deny the application.”
A group of neighbors successfully petitioned to intervene in
the warehouse proposal during the public hearing process, and were subsequently
granted intervener status by the judge presiding over the lawsuits in August
2022, designating them as third parties in the application and allowing them to
present testimony and raise questions about the proposal.
The lawsuits are currently pending, with a trial date
scheduled for Nov. 1. Documents have been filed by all parties since 2021, with
each submitting a brief to the court this summer.
The PZC said in a brief filed June 30 that it would not take
a position on the merits of the appeal after “careful consideration” by
the commission.
“The commission therefore leaves the remaining parties to
their respective proof with respect to the issues raised in this appeal,” the
PZC said.
The intervening residents said in their brief, also filed
June 30, that the applicant has “failed to sustain its burden” to show that the
PZC made a decision that was “arbitrary, illegal, or in abuse of the
discretion” vested in it.
The interveners said the project had 12 issues with respect
to South Windsor’s zoning regulations that were not resolved prior to the
rejection and, in absence of a written statement justifying the
decision, the court must uphold the rejection if there is even one valid
reason to.
“The record contains substantial evidence that the application
failed to satisfy all standards” required by general statutes and
local zoning regulations, the interveners said.
UW Vintage Lane II LLC said in its brief, filed Aug. 4, that
eight of the 12 alleged issues stated by the intervening residents were not
discussed at the public hearing, preventing the court from reviewing them on
appeal.
UW Vintage Lane II LLC said the PZC rejected expert
testimony on technical matters such as traffic analysis and site design,
instead relying on statements from opponents of the project. The developer said
that the PZC’s preoccupation with those opponents “skewed” its decision, which
was based on “irrelevant factors beyond its jurisdiction or control.”
Staff writer Jamila Young contributed to this report.
Officials grant $100M Lord Cromwell housing project a 10-year tax abatement
CROMWELL — Town officials unanimously approved a 10-year tax
abatement for the $100
million redevelopment of the “blighted” former Red Lion Hotel property
on Route 372 that would allow the property owner to pay no taxes for the first
two years.
Lexington
Partners, a Hartford-based real estate development firm, has already
received Planning
and Zoning Commission approval to build some 254 studios, and one-,
two- and three-bedroom apartment units with 38,000 square feet of retail space
at Berlin Road. There will also be 20 condominiums for sale.
The property owner is M350 Berlin Land Holdings of California, according to the
assessor’s database.
The building is in a great state of disrepair, according to
Attorney Peter Alter, who represents the applicant.
"It has been the subject
of thieves and vandals and squatters over the last several years to
the point where Lexington Partners had to ask town of Cromwell police to put
somebody there on a full-time basis to keep people out,” he said at the Oct.
17 Board of Selectmen meeting, according to the video.
The structure is filled with mold, asbestos, PCBs, and
“significant” environmental impediments, he added.
Planning and Zoning Commission Vice Chairman
Mike Cannata called the property “an eyesore and a danger to the
community. It’s a problem for police. It’s a problem for fire. It needs to go.
It’s lived its life. Let’s put it to bed.”
The plan is a "win-win" for the town because it
has "practically no equity in the situation,” Economic Development
Commission Chairman Richard Nobile said.
The state Department of Revenue Services terminated
The Red Lion’s sales and use tax permit in January 2020 for nonpayment
of taxes, which resulted in the layoffs of 50 employees. The new name, the Lord
Cromwell, will recall the original development.
The abatement, already
approved by the Cromwell Planning and Zoning Commission, is based on the
property’s assessed value of $26.2 million. The tax reduction would not kick in
until the final building obtains a certificate of occupancy, Alter explained.
It would allow the firm to pay no taxes during the first two
years, followed by 10 percent of the property value in year three, and an additional
10 percent each year, ending in the 10th year, when taxes will be 80 percent of
$26.2 million, according to documents.
In Connecticut, tax abatements are based
on a sliding scale, depending on the level of property
investment.
Lexington Partners owns several housing
complexes, including The Tannery in Glastonbury, The Borden of
Wethersfield, Saybrook Station in Old Saybrook and the former Sage-Allen
building in Hartford.
Alter explained the reason behind the request. "In
order to have this property in a developable condition, like if you bought a
piece of property that was empty and ready to be developed, Lexington Partners
will spend in [$4.5] million just to take the building down and do the
environmental remediation.”
The project’s initial costs will be substantially greater
than the typical initial costs due to the existing conditions, according to the
proposal.
Before any construction begins, the developer will have
committed the $4.5 million plus the land cost of $3.2 million, which is “not
readily financeable and requires a substantial equity at outset,” plans
said.
Once complete, the project is projected to create about 150
full-time jobs.
Alter said the complex would bring in more than $1 million
in tax revenue for the town. "We need to be able to get there, and that's
where we need this community's support," he added.
"This site is a critical element of the Cromwell
commercial corridor and provides a needed inventory of high-end multifamily
rental housing and high-end housing for sale,” the proposal said.
The plan is a "win-win" for the town because it
has "practically no equity in the situation,” Nobile said. "You
cannot leave these properties undeveloped, bringing in no taxes. … All the tax
abatements we've given since 1996, nothing has come back to bite us."
"That's going to be the gateway to Cromwell so long as
you guys get your abatement," Councilman Al Waters told Alter.
"That's what we need. I consider giving tax abatements the cost of doing
business.
"It costs us now in a way, but it doesn't cost us out
of pocket,” Waters added.
Lamont and state, local officials celebrate $11.3 million grant for new Enfield housing
ENFIELD — After hearing Doug Daunis explain why his family
situation would not have been very good had it not been for Enfield Manor
housing, Gov. Ned Lamont said his story is the precise reason that the town
received $11.3
million in state funds that will be going toward building new, updated
housing on the site for seniors and people with disabilities.
The two men spoke on Wednesday during a news conference
about the state's Community Investment Fund grant that will go toward
demolishing the existing Enfield Manor on Enfield Terrace, a housing authority
facility for older and disabled residents, and construction of 99 new
one-bedroom units and community space.
Daunis, who has lived in Enfield his entire life, said he
and his wife lived with their three children on Green Valley Drive but moved to
Enfield Manor in 1988. After he hurt his back working as a janitor, Daunis says
he was forced to rely on disability benefits.
"Thankfully, we qualified to live here," he said.
He said he loves living at Enfield Manor and looks forward to remaining a
resident there in one of the new units.
The relocation plan for residents is a phased approach that
will advance as construction continues.
"Doug, you remind us of why we are doing
this," Lamont said. "It's so that someone like you, who loves this
town, can stay in this town."
Lamont said housing in the state has been underfunded
for too long "and now we're paying for it," adding that it's
important to modernize the units to make them accessible to older and disabled
residents.
The housing facility, under the direction of the Enfield
Housing Authority, was built in the 1960s and needs updating to fit its
residents' needs, officials said.
Enfield Housing Authority Executive Director
Scott Bertrand said the CIF grant will greatly improve the lives of
the residents at Enfield Manor. "Not only will it replace existing
affordable housing, but will expand it with 22 units," he said, adding
that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has joined the effort
and will bring additional funds that will go toward construction.
"The planning for this goes back 15 years, with a big
push eight years ago, and five years to get us to where we are today,"
Bertrand said.
Sen. John A. Kissel, R-Enfield, said he has served
under a variety of governors from both political parties during his 31 years in
the legislature and has found Lamont to be "one of the best." He said
Lamont is working "from his heart and is committed to leaving Connecticut
a much better place."
Kissel said Lamont and Housing Commissioner Seila
Mosquera-Bruno both want everyone in the state to have a roof over their head
and are committed to providing that housing.
He also thanked Bertrand for his dedication to providing
housing for Enfield residents. "You couldn't ask for a better director
than Scott," Kissel said. "You and your staff do a yeoman's work
every day."
Mayor Bob Cressotti welcomed state officials including
Kissel, Mosquera-Bruno, and Connecticut Aging and Disability Services
Commissioner Amy Porter. "There's no job more important for an elected
official than to ensure residents have safe and sanitary housing," he
said. "This program will be a staple of that statement."
He said Kissel and Rep. Tom Arnone,
D-Enfield, supported the initiative to rebuild units at Enfield Manor
"from the beginning" and thanked Bertrand as well.
"We are here today to celebrate the culmination of
many years of hard work and the (future) rehabilitation of the complex and
increased units," Cressotti said. "The help we are getting from the
state and federal government will enhance this community."
Getting a new high school: A different story in two CT towns
For some students, school renovations can be exciting.
At Farmington High School, many teens are eagerly looking
forward to next school year, when a brand-new building is expected to be
completed and they can finally move in.
The construction, which started about a year ago, has had
minimal disruptions on academic lives, several students said.
About 15 miles away, though, another renovation has left
students feeling frustrated and disappointed.
While students at Bulkeley High School in Hartford
complained of a former campus that was “falling apart,” the interim plans —
splitting students into two different campuses across the city from each other
— have meant limited extracurriculars, disruptions to learning and the loss of
a cafeteria. And delays in construction have prolonged the issues.
“We don’t have a comfortable place to learn. We don’t have
an auditorium. We don’t have a cafeteria, and we have to eat in our classrooms.
… None of our teachers have sufficient materials to teach our classes. For
example, we don’t have a biology laboratory,” said Kiara Melendez, a south
campus student, in Spanish at a local Board of Education meeting in the spring.
“Our district has the money for this construction, but the construction has
paused and been like this for three years. … How much longer do we have to wait
for our school? How many more classes and other experiences will we have to
miss out on?”
County schools illustrate how vastly different experiences
students in districts across the state can have — affected in part by access to
funding and the size of the school system and municipality. These issues can
disproportionately impact urban school districts, which have more schools to
maintain and tend to have less open space available to build.
Marisa Halm, who works as an attorney at the Center for Children’s Advocacy, said she can’t
see what’s happening in Hartford happen in a suburban district.
“I don’t see it being tolerated,” Halm said. “It’s
something, unfortunately, that’s endemic to the Hartford Public School system,
which is always in transition and needing to improve and having to focus on
some of its newer investments and putting funding in those.”
The problem for many urban districts in the state is that
they’re home to dozens of schools — which often means getting “in line” before
any renovations can be considered, said Fran Rabinowitz, the executive director
of the Connecticut Association of Public
School Superintendents and a former superintendent in Hamden and
Bridgeport.
“I can liken [Bulkeley] to Bassick High School in
Bridgeport, where they’re finally getting a brand new high school. … Ten years
ago, we were working on that and part of it is getting it into the bonding, and
it’s also hard — even though you might be reimbursed for 90%, you’re still
going to the municipality for an amount of money — and as much as Bassick was a
priority, Harding [High School] was a huge priority … and my guess is in
Hartford, it’s very similar,” Rabinowitz said. “They may have had to renovate
other buildings that were even more top priority. … So, it’s like everyone
getting in line and being able to get [funding] first.”
At Bulkeley High School, the $210 million renovation comes
after decades of operation without major upgrades, other than a new sprinkler
system installed in 2000.
Approved for renovations in 2018, the high school in south
Hartford began construction in 2020. Originally slotted a $149 million budget
and supposed to be completed by August 2024, Hartford officials say Bulkeley’s
reopening will not only be delayed a year but will also cost an additional $61
million because of COVID-19 and supply chain issues.
District officials said the campus’ systems and structures,
including HVAC, electrical, elevators, doors and roof, “were old,” but students
emphasized the school felt like it was “falling apart.”
“The building had a whole bunch of rats, bugs and mice,”
said Brianna Arce, who graduated in 2022. “It would mostly be inside the walls.
We used to smell it. It used to be bad sometimes, like if the heat was on, [the
smell] would come through the vents sometimes on certain floors.”
“Most of the building was pretty old and falling apart. …
There was graffiti in the bathrooms. [The classrooms] had no windows. The only
windows that were actually provided to us were in the stairwells and the
lunchroom. … It was a prison,” said Adrian Ortiz, the 2022 class president.
“You couldn’t leave food out. Most teachers would always say, ‘I gotta hide
this paper before the mice chew on it,’ or ‘Try not to eat in my classroom or
you’ll attract mice and cockroaches.’ You could see cockroaches. Sometimes
there would be ants.”
Paul Drummey, the chair of the Hartford School Building
Committee, said the high school’s six-year construction schedule was not
“typical.” He noted the building’s age as a factor in the timeline.
Bulkeley High School was built in 1978.
“The facility was showing its age — nearly 50 years in
operation — and all the building systems were at the end of their useful life.
Repairs and replacements do not receive state funding, while a renovation to
as-new condition does,” Drummey said. “Removal of asbestos is also being
accomplished. The building will be renewed from the structure outward, and it
is designed to operate without needing extensive renovation for at least the
next 20 years.”
School officials did not address students’ claims.
Since the renovation began, students have been split among
the old Dwight Elementary School in the South End of the city and the old Mark
Twain School in the North End, based on their grade levels. However, both
Brianna and Adrian said they would have preferred their original campus’s
conditions compared to the temporary schools they were placed in when the
renovations began.
“I didn’t really get the high school experience that I
wanted — that I expected — like the big assemblies that we would have when I
was a freshman, and all the fun that we had in the clubs we used to have,”
Brianna said. “We never had any of those [again] because the school has
separated. There are different schools for the 9th and 10th graders on
Wethersfield [Ave.] and 11th and 12th [grade students are based] in the north.
It was just harder to do anything.”
The conditions for the Hartford students are starkly
different from those at Farmington High School, which is under a comparable
construction project.
The $145.3 million construction in Farmington, a $9.7
million increase from the original budget because of similar issues as
Hartford, comes after claims that the existing campus is “undersized,” which
impacts “scheduling and educational programming,” does not adhere to ADA
requirements and has a “rapidly
deteriorating roof that leaks in hallways and classrooms,” according to a
statement of need from the district in 2019.
In Farmington, a 20-minute drive from Hartford, construction
began in the fall of 2022, and the school experience has since been relatively
normal for students. Rather than renovating its existing building, Farmington
is building a brand new high school adjacent to the existing campus to ensure “no
disruption to teaching and learning,” according to the Farmington School
Building Committee website.
Rithvik Satyavarapu, a junior at the high school, never
experienced “too many problems” at the existing campus, but did think it was “a
little bit old.”
“Yes, the roof was leaking in some places … and anything that
leaked, it seemed like it was being taken care of, and I personally haven’t
observed too many other bad things,” Rithvik said. “I think the school could
have definitely been upgradeable — it’s not really bad. I think it’d still be
manageable.”
A systemic issue
Drummey said the decision to renovate Bulkeley, rather than
build a new school, was “driven by the site configuration, insufficient land to
build new while the existing remained in operation and the lack of alternate
sites in the city.”
Bulkeley occupies about 30 acres, according
to city records. In comparison, the land area for Farmington High School is
about 40
acres.
In Hartford, school renovations became a point of emphasis
in 2018 after the district created a Model
for Excellence that “prioritized providing all our students with
modern educational facilities,” said Julia Skrobak, a spokesperson for the
district.
“School construction projects are scheduled and executed in
collaboration with the city of Hartford, School Building Commission and the
state of Connecticut,” Skorbak said. “The schedule for renovation and
construction is developed after considering need, available facilities for
swing space if necessary, and available budget from local and state government,
including the school construction application that governs the process for
schools to be renovated.”
Hartford is home to more
than 30 schools, which makes access to resources even more difficult.
“Funding certainly plays some role, because a community does
have to pay for some of the costs, and typically urban communities have less
financial capacity to pay those costs,” said Michael Morton, the deputy
executive director for communications at the School and State Finance Project.
“Urban communities also have larger districts with more schools and more
students, so there’s going to be more projects that they’ll ultimately have to
undertake, where some of Connecticut’s suburban districts are much smaller and
may only have a few schools that they need to maintain.”
Farmington has seven schools.
The town’s only high school has had “10 new additions over 65 years,” including
in 1952, 1964, 1978, 1996 and 2003, according to a video by the Farmington High
School School Building Committee.
“There are so many different schools [in Hartford]. How many
folks are actually invested in this particular school? In an entire suburb like
Farmington, it has one high school to think about, whereas the district of
Hartford has 10 plus different high schools [including charter and magnet
schools] that they’re thinking about,” Halm said.
The student experience
Brianna isn’t alone in her sentiments of feeling “robbed” of
her high school experience because of the decision to separate students into
two campuses.
In May, a dozen Bulkeley students from both campuses spoke
at a local Board of Education meeting about additional issues, including having
to eat in their classrooms because of the lack of a cafeteria and having to
cancel events like homecoming.
“We as students are being deprived of the real high school
experience. One result of this is that there are few or no clubs at all for our
Bulkeley students. The only extracurricular activities we have are the
different sports. What happens to the students who cannot engage in sports or
are not interested in participating?” said Navita Budhoo, a north campus
student. “We have one cycle. We go to school, those who play sports go to their
games, and those who don’t go home. There isn’t even an option to create our
own clubs or extracurricular activities because we lack access to the necessary
tools.”
A handful of students also complained about their new
campuses in interviews with the CT Mirror, citing how the south campus has a
gym built on the third floor — making it hard to focus in class when
there’s PE classes going on. They also noted both temporary Hartford campuses
are also outdated.
“Having classes right under the gym was absolutely
ridiculous,” said Simya Rembert, who’s entering her junior year. “Kids were
running and jumping around and you could hear all of it. The top layer [of the
ceiling] would shake. It was really bad.”
Adrian added that the south campus felt “ancient,” where
creaking floors and dust were common.
“Even so, the lower campus is way better than the north
campus. The north campus was like a shower. It was always humid,” Adrian said.
“There are ACs in the classrooms … but most of them wouldn’t work. I remember a
Spanish class where it was 90 degrees outside and the teacher couldn’t do anything
about it — the heater was on in her classroom [because the heating system was
broken].”
Christina Quaranta, from the Connecticut
Justice Alliance, said it’s fair to consider classroom and environmental
conditions as factors in high rates of chronic absenteeism in Hartford.
“This is a period of time where they’re learning how to
socialize, what social norms are, and they’re all looking forward to having a
‘high school experience.’ So to damage that, especially in a time when lots of
them have already lost a middle school experience because of the pandemic, is
really unfortunate and unfair,” Quaranta said. “I think it’s detrimental to
their development. It contributes to young people feeling sort of like negative
feelings when they think back to school or they think back to people in
authority who cared for them or didn’t.”
Over 56% of students at Bulkeley High School were missing
10% or more of their classes in 2018-19, prior to the pandemic and start of
construction. That number peaked at 75% in 2020-21, before dropping to 65.3%
the following year. Chronic absenteeism increased to 66.3% in the 2022-23
school year, which is when students addressed the Board of Education about
their school conditions.
The district is now making efforts to try and alleviate
renovation pains.
“At the end of the 2022-2023 school year, we made changes to
meal service preparation in response to student concerns and have since
received favorable feedback. Additionally, we have re-configured the lunch room
space to remove desks and add modular tables, replicating a cafeteria-style
setting and allowing students to better interact with their peers during
meals,” Skrobak said. “Throughout this school year, district and school leaders
will continue to meet regularly to respond to additional community concerns and
ensure student needs are being met. These meetings will also include updates on
the Bulkeley construction project and discussions about how best to engage and inform
the school community.”
In Farmington, the new high school remains on pace, and
students are expected to be in their new campus by August 2024. Rithvik said he
feels the construction has been timely.
“By the time I enter my senior year, we should be ready to
move in, and it does seem like [the new school] has more facilities, at least.
For example, I’m part of the robotics team, and our robotics team is getting an
upgrade to our workspace compared to the old place we’re in right now,” Rithvik
said. “I’d say overall, it’s been a positive change.”
Students at Farmington High School said they’ve rarely
experienced any disturbances or disruptions in class.
“We’ve never had to relocate. If we hear noise, it’s maybe
like a little bit of beeping for a minute or so, but besides that, I think
Farmington has done a really good job at keeping school going smoothly even
with a whole other building being built like 100 feet away,” said Jane Guay, a
junior and the president of Young Democrats at the high school.
Jane also added that the district has kept students in the
loop about construction.
“It hasn’t gotten in the way of my learning or anything.
Last year in the spring, they would take students on tours of the building, and
I got to go with one of my classes,” Jane said. “It was cool to see just how
the building was being built and how they had planned out the whole thing.”
Whereas academics have remained minimally disrupted in
Farmington compared to Hartford, there are similar concerns about how
construction has impacted some extracurriculars.
“This hasn’t directly impacted me, but it has for some of my
peers, where they have had to temporarily destroy the baseball pits and the
tennis grounds,” Rithvik said. “It’s basically just a big open field now that’s
part of the construction. … But overall, it’s a very positive experience.”