ANSONIA – The city is looking for a project manager to oversee the construction of a new middle school on Pulaski Highway.

The school building commission issued a combined request for qualifications (“RFQ”) and request for proposals (“RFP”) June 5, looking for a firm to provide both project management and owner’s representative services.

The firm selected will be responsible for making sure the project meets deadlines and complies with state and federal laws, and that the city’s interests are represented when speaking with contractors.

Last month, the city awarded a $4.64 million contract to Tecton Architects for architectural and engineering services relating to the project. That firm will oversee the design and building of the school.

The deadline for submissions was June 22. The commission is scheduled to interview responding firms during the week of June 29 and possibly select one July 2.

A list of responding firms has not been published as of June 23.

The RFQ/RFP document does not specify a budget for project management services.

Background

City and school officials have said for years that Ansonia needs a new middle school, citing extensive code compliance issues in the current, 85-year-old school on Howard Avenue.

Voters approved borrowing up to $100 million for the new school’s construction in 2023.

The total budget for the project is about $87.4 million, with about $80 million of that relating to construction costs, according to documents provided by the city. However, the state will reimburse Ansonia for up to 87 percent of the costs for the project, under a rate set by state lawmakers.

(A bit of math: If the entire $87.4 million project budget is reimbursed by the state at that rate, then Ansonia would be responsible for about $11.36 million of the total costs.)

The city spent about four years in negotiations to buy 64 – 78 Pulaski Highway for the middle school, down the road from the current Ansonia High School. Those negotiations went to court before the Aldermen agreed to purchase the land for about $4.5 million in July 2025.

As part of the project, a new administrative office building will be built on the same site. It will replace the current board of education building on Grove Street, which has had its own set of code compliance issues.

The costs for the new office’s construction are included in the above cost estimates.