After hurdles, setbacks and lots of frustration, the Ansonia Nature Center is finally ready to move forward with its nature-based pre-school program.
The Board of Aldermen on Sept. 13 approved a lease with the Ansonia Nature Center that allows the group to operate the pre-school in the Redwing Pond House at the center.
The Ansonia Nature Center and Redwing Pond House are city-owned. The pre-school would be run by the Friends of the Ansonia Nature Center Inc. (FANCI), a non-profit group that raises money for the center and its programs.
FANCI has been waiting for city approval to use the Redwing Pond House for the program in order to get state education certification to operate the pre-school program.
“We’ve fulfilled the dream,” FANCI president Rich Wade said after the lease was approved. “I’d like to thank the Board of Aldermen.”
The Obstacles
The Nature Center received a state grant to help start the program in 2010, but needed city approval to open the program in the Red Wing Pond House.
In spring 2010, the Board of Aldermen wouldn’t support the proposal because members were concerned the pre-school would result in hidden costs for the city that would be impossible to manage in a tough budget cycle. The state grant was used for other Nature Center programs.
But in February 2011, the board reconsidered and started negotiating a lease agreement with the Friends of the Ansonia Nature Center.
Center leaders said the change probably came because of funding: The Nature Center had received a $40,000 grant from the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven to start up the pre-school program.
“I think that opened their eyes a little bit, because we had something up front to work with,” Wade told the Valley Indy in February.
While the lease was negotiated, FANCI leaders had to get Inland Wetlands and Zoning approvals for the program.
The Lease
Under the lease, the Nature Center assumes all liability for the pre-school program, while the city continues to plow the roads and pay utilities at the building.
The Nature Center staff will have to shovel the sidewalks under the agreement.
“This is a unique opportunity for the city to have a nature-based pre-school in one of the unique attractions the city is lucky enough to have — the Ansonia Nature Center,” said the group’s lawyer, Clifford Hoyle Jr. during the meeting.
“All of the liability will be born by the Ansonia Nature Center,” Hoyle said. “The city will be held harmless for virtually everything.”
New Director
The nature center has hired a new director for the nature-based pre-school program: Jacqueline Lema.
Lema is responsible for getting state education certifications to open the pre-school. FANCI also needs to get insurance, Wade said.
Lema said she was excited to move closer to opening, and meeting the students who will eventually attend the pre-school.
“The school will be an exceptional and unique place for pre-school children in Ansonia and the surrounding communities to learn and explore in a beautiful environment,” Lema said in an e‑mail. “I am now able to apply for my license with the state of Connecticut, and begin the exciting task of meeting prospective children and their families.”
The Friends of the Ansonia Nature Center is celebrating its 20th anniversary this fall.
“This is very fitting for the Friends’ 20th anniversary, that we should actually be opening this facility,” said Donna Lindgren, the director of the nature center.
Wade said the group is aiming for an opening in January.