The city plans to build three new schools — one high school and two elementary schools — over the next few years. Work has already begun on the new $45 million Cranbury Elementary School, while officials are designing South Norwalk’s first elementary school in decades and coordinating the logistics for the construction of the new Norwalk High School. For the new South Norwalk school, Lo said that the city funded $76 million — $14 million of which was spent “on acquisition of the property” that was owned by The Hatch & Bailey Co. This school will have a large capacity, at nearly twice the size of a typical elementary school. The school is proposed to open fall 2025. To locate the new Norwalk High School, one need not go far from the current one. Dan Phillips, the project manager for Construction Solutions Group, presented the updates to this project. The goal is to start construction at the end of the football season because the new school is being built on the existing football field.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/norwalk-high-school-sono-construction-cranbury-17751584.php

Last week, the Planning Board voted unanimously to recommend plans for two seven-story residential buildings, totaling 471 apartments, in the 70-100 blocks of Clinton Avenue. The 4.3-acre site is located along the Rippowam River. Officials have been working for decades to piece together a riverside walking path connecting Scalzi Park to Kosciuszko Park — a central facet of long-term plans to expand Mill River Park. The new plans, submitted by New York developer Carmel Partners, have been in the works for at least eight years. After years of delays, New York developer Carmel Partners purchased the site from RBS last year. “This may be the sixth and, hopefully, final time that we are appearing before you to discuss some aspect of this proposal,” Lisa Feinberg, the applicant’s attorney, said to the Planning Board.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/stamford-s-last-vacant-downtown-lot-slated-17744667.php?src=sthpdesecp

Between 2015 and 2018, six U.S. states—Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky, West Virginia and Arkansas—each repealed their state prevailing-wage laws that established minimum labor standards on taxpayer-funded projects like roads, bridges, schools and water infrastructure. All did so promising to save money, including by “building five schools for the price of three.” The problem is: it never happened. As one Indiana Republican lawmaker put it, “we got rid of prevailing wage and, so far, it hasn’t saved us a penny.” His conclusions were ultimately confirmed by the Indiana Department of Labor. In Wisconsin, a study that examined highway projects pre- and post-repeal showed that the state not only failed to save money, but that it might have increased cost overruns. In West Virginia, the School Building Authority similarly concluded that prevailing-wage repeal was not saving taxpayers any money. The list goes on.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/crains-forum-labor-organizing/illinois-prevailing-wage-law-stays-books

New London may be forced to pay several million dollars in demolition and remediation work for a new high school project because local officials allegedly heeded the directions of Konstantinos Diamantis, the former leader of Connecticut’s school construction program. Officials with the Department of Administrative Services, which houses the state’s school construction office, recently informed the city that it will not pay for any of the roughly $4 million in demolition or abatement work at the New London High School because that contract was never put out to bid, as state law requires. According to Diamantis, the only reason New London officials are pointing the finger at him now is because they don’t want to get stuck covering the cost of the demolition and abatement contract for their new high school. Conley said she and her colleagues in the legislature are simply trying to correct an issue that was created by the state. Officials at DAS said they are required to follow state law when it comes to reimbursements for school construction projects. That means the agency’s can’t reimburse New London for those costs unless the legislature approves special exemption for the New London project. Conley said she expects the General Assembly to pass that legislation this year.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230127/state-says-it-wont-pay-new-london-for-school-demolition-work/

The Town of Groton won’t have to pay for the planned replacement of the Groton Long Point Road Bridge over Palmer’s Cove, saving about $1.7 million in town funds, according to town and state officials. The town originally had anticipated it would participate in a program in which it would have to pay 20% of the estimated $8.4 million cost to replace the bridge. But the town recently was accepted into a newer program in which the town would not have to pay anything toward the project cost, according to town officials. The Town Council Committee of the Whole on Tuesday recommended moving forward with the funding program, with the full council slated to take a final vote to approve it at its Feb. 7 regular council meeting. Public Works Director Greg Hanover told councilors that under this new federal local bridge program, called the Design Managed by State Program, the state would take the project through design, permitting and rights of way acquisitions, and manage the contractor during construction. He said the town will still be involved in providing input throughout the design and construction phases and there will still be a public input component to the project.

https://www.theday.com/article/20230128/no-town-funds-needed-for-groton-long-point-road-bridge-replacement/

In all, Durham developer Dominick DeMartino, who owns properties around the state, will be investing $15 million in these ambitious projects. He chose Middletown because he’s “very connected” to the city and active in numerous area organizations. Construction is underway for 10 housing units in the top two stories of 418-22 Main St., where, on the ground floor, the original Amato’s Toy & Hobby was located in the 1970s, as well as Vinnie’s Jump & Jive dance hall, which closed in late July. He has an application in to the city to build 12 market-rate apartments — six on each floor — geared toward young professionals, college students, medical workers and those “who live and play on Main Street,” the developer said. In the old Woolworth’s building at 428 Main St., most recently occupied by Irreplaceable Artifacts, there will be a restaurant located below a rooftop patio bar overlooking the Connecticut River.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/ct-developer-investing-15m-downtown-middletown-17744540.php

University officials, along with students, faculty and local community members, officially opened the new Recreation and Wellness Center in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, with the goal of providing students with “social, emotional and physical well-being support.” The $45-million building also is home to the university’s partnership with Hartford HealthCare. The university’s student health services merged with the health system last year in a $5 million deal. The agreement was to grow the Connecticut health care workforce by creating a career pipeline for students and expanding nursing and medical programs at Quinnipiac. Quinnipiac began construction of the Recreation and Wellness Center in 2021, and partially opened the building to students last fall.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/quinnipiac-opens-new-recreation-center-17746661.php

The Old Towne Hotel project would convert the Stamford Savings Bank building at 160 Atlantic St. beside Veterans Memorial Park into an 82-room boutique hotel with a ground-floor restaurant and rooftop patio. A 2022 valuation appraised the building at about $3.27 million, city building records show. The renovation would add nine additional stories atop the existing structure. At the public hearing, the Board requested several changes to the project, including a complete redesign of the building’s rear, which previously would have included a loading dock, dumpsters, electrical transformers and a guest entrance. On Monday night, Leydon requested four more weeks to present the revisions.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/stamford-developer-eyes-stamford-savings-bank-17735813.php?src=sthpdesecp

The new career academy-style high school and middle school that aims to accommodate 1,400 city students at a refurbished west side office park will miss its 2024 opening goal and be delayed at least a year. The reason for the missed opening date: Negotiations to buy the hilltop building on Apple Ridge Road ate up too much time. The city didn’t close on the deal until late November. “The voters passed the ($164 million career academy) referendum in June and we had expected to close in July,” Iadarola said. Danbury closed on the property sale Nov. 26., which made an August 2024 opening date undoable, he said. “Although we anticipate being able to finish the project well before August of 2025, you can’t open up a school of this size in mid-year,” Iadarola said.

https://www.newstimes.com/news/education/article/Danbury-career-academy-won-t-open-in-2024-17736556.php

State officials released a highly anticipated audit into Connecticut’s school construction office late last week, but it is unlikely to alleviate all of the concerns about the multibillion-dollar construction program, which became the focus of a federal investigation last year. The 23-page report that was produced by Marcum LLP, an independent auditing firm, included an analysis of more than 111 school construction projects that were undertaken in Connecticut between 2018 and 2021. Marcum’s findings noted, for instance, how state officials within the Office of School Construction Grants & Review often skipped steps while reviewing completed school projects. It pointed out how the state doesn’t scrutinize smaller charges that are billed by school construction contractors and subcontractors. And it highlighted how the state’s financial share in some school projects was larger than Connecticut law allows, even though there was no explanation for why the state was picking up a bigger portion of the tab.

https://www.theday.com/state/20230123/ct-school-construction-program-audit-done-but-questions-remain/