ANSONIA – Elected officials on the Board of Aldermen voted May 12 to award a $4.64 million contract to a firm for architectural and engineering services on the city’s new middle school.

The Aldermen authorized a contract with Tecton Architects, based in Providence, R.I., on a recommendation from the school building commission. 

The firm is scheduled to give a public presentation on the project at a meeting of the school building commission 6:30 p.m. May 21 (Thursday) at the Robert E. Zuraw Administrative Office Building (42 Grove St). Click here for an agenda.

The firm will oversee the design and planning for the project and oversee construction, with a goal to open the new school on Pulaski Highway by fall 2029.

A total of 11 firms bid on a request for qualifications (RFQ) that went out in October. The school building commission interviewed four firms before selecting Tecton, according to commission president Beverly Tidmarsh.

Tecton’s bid was the highest out of the interviewed firms. The lowest bid was from Friar Architecture Inc., based in Farmington, at $3,116,000.

Tidmarsh said the commission recommended Tecton after touring schools designed by each firm. She said she was impressed by two elementary schools in Cheshire designed by Tecton.

“We did not have the bid amounts when we interviewed. We didn’t want knowing the bid amounts to color our interview process. We saw the amounts after we chose the firm, which was Tecton,” Tidmarsh wrote in an email.

She said Tecton had the strongest presentation out of the interviewed firms. She said Tecton’s proposal also included more services than the other firms, and that she felt the city would be able to avoid costs down the line because it won’t need as many change orders.

“The other thing too that we liked was the fact that they have a person on staff that deals with community engagement, that will speak to, be in touch with the residents up in that area, and hold meetings wherever people want to go,” Tidmarsh said. “They’ll be there, and get feedback from students, parents, just the community in general, and the residents in that particular area.”

Tecton’s bid was within the city’s budget of about $4.94 million for architectural and engineering services, according to documents provided by the city.

The total budget for the project is about $87.4 million, with most of the budget ($80 million) relating to construction costs, according to those documents. Voters approved borrowing up to $100 million for the new middle school in 2023.

The state will reimburse Ansonia for up to about 87 percent of the costs for the project, under a rate set by state lawmakers in 2024.

Why Does Ansonia Need A New Middle School?

Ansonia Board of Education members and school district administrators have said for years that the city needs to build a new middle school.

The current school building on Howard Avenue is more than 85 years old. Upgrades to the school would cost about as much as it would to just build a new school, Superintendent Joseph DiBacco said in 2022.

The current building has extensive code compliance issues and lacks usable outdoor space, according to previous long-range facilities studies.

The city spent about four years in negotiations to buy land on 64 – 78 Pulaski Highway for the middle school. Those negotiations went to court before the Aldermen agreed to purchase the land for about $4.5 million in July 2025.

The city then sent out the RFQ for architectural and engineering services in October. However, the process of selecting a firm was delayed because then-Mayor David Cassetti was defeated in the election by Mayor Frank Tyszka in November.

After the election, the school building commission had a membership shakeup. Eight of the commission’s 12 members were replaced in December. The new members said in past meetings that they needed more time to select a firm.

The commission is next scheduled to meet and receive the presentation from Tecton Architects May 21.