ANSONIA – The City of Ansonia is searching for architectural and engineering services as it sets out to build a new middle school and school administration office on Pulaski Highway.

According to a request for qualifications (RFQ) issued Oct. 22, the city is searching for firms “to provide comprehensive design services for the construction of a new middle school and administrative offices.” 

The RFQ says the city plans to have students in the new middle school for the 2029 – 2030 school year.

However, the search comes as a major change is happening in Ansonia government. Mayor David Cassetti was defeated Nov. 4 by Frank Tyszka. Tyszka takes office Dec. 1.

He said in an email that the RFQ contains errors. He did not specify the errors, but said the RFQ will be revised once he takes office.

Tyszka said although the RFQ may be changed, the new middle school project will still be going ahead.

The RFQ comes three months after the Board of Aldermen authorized the $4.5 million purchase of 25 acres on 64 – 78 Pulaski Highway for the school. The currently undeveloped land sits between Farrel Drive and Fitzpatrick Road, about half a mile down the road from Ansonia High School.

The new school construction is budgeted to cost $100 million. 

However, the city will only be on the hook for about $13 million of that cost, based on an 87 percent state reimbursement rate authorized by state legislators last year.

Borrowing money for the project was approved by voters in a 2023 referendum. School and city officials have said for years that a new school is needed.

The current school building on Howard Avenue is more than 85 years old. It has extensive code compliance issues and lacks usable outdoor space, according to previous long-range facilities studies.

Renovating the current school would cost about as much as it would to just build a new school, Superintendent Joseph DiBacco said in 2022. Prior studies also identified serious issues with the schools’ administrative offices on 42 Grove St.

According to the RFQ, the new middle school would be about 132,457 square feet. That’s slightly larger than the current middle school, which is 110,545 square feet, according to city land records.

The new administrative offices would be located inside the new middle school, according to the RFQ. There would be 230 parking spaces at the school and a loop for 12 buses.

The RFQ also calls for three playing fields: an all-purpose field with a baseball diamond, a separate softball field, and a practice field. It also calls for potentially adding a regulation track.

Construction is estimated to take 20 to 22 months once it starts, the RFQ says.

According to a timeline laid out in the RFQ, the city is scheduled to select a firm Dec. 16.