An image shared by the City of Ansonia on Facebook July 14, 2021.
ANSONIA — Griffin Health’s President and CEO announced Tuesday his organization will pick up the tab for a major renovation of the Ansonia Armory on State Street.
“We decided to put together a project we’d like to propose as our gift to the city,” said Griffin Health’s Patrick Charmel. “It’s our way of saying thank you, and for promoting healthy activity in the community and ensuring there’s a safe place for kids to come.”
Charmel made the announcement during the Board of Aldermen’s virtual meeting Tuesday (July 13).
The City of Ansonia teamed with Griffin Health during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing the Armory to be used as a vaccination site for several months.
According to Charmel, 4,166 residents received the COVID-19 vaccine at the Armory. At one point, 700 people were vaccinated at the site in a single day.
Mayor David Cassetti’s administration heavily promoted the local COVID-19 clinics, at one point spending a weekend going door to door. The city’s recreation director, Jeff Coppola, became a COVID-19 vaccination scheduler, connecting people to clinics.
Meanwhile, Charmel said Griffin Health staff noticed the Armory building itself also needed some care.
The city over the last few years has made some improvements to the facility, which was built in 1920.
The past work included installing a new roof, new windows, new gutters and parapets, and public works built out some office space and did some landscaping.
It’s a big, old building, so there is always room for improvement.
Griffin will hire contractors to restore the gymnasium, which includes rehabbing the floor, painting the interior walls and ceiling, and renovating the bathroom.
Once the inside of the Armory is spruced up, Charmel said the project will also feature needed improvements to the exterior.
The brick exterior will be cleaned and new, LED exterior lighting will be installed.
“We had the opportunity to spend a fair amount of time in the Armory,” Charmel told the Aldermen. “Our team thought about how to thank the city, especially since the city didn’t charge us rent to use the Armory. The Armory is such an important community asset, and we know the Ansonia/Derby Youth Basketball League plays their games there.”
Charmel said work is slated to begin later this month, with the project expected to be complete in September.
Charmel put the project estimate at $150,000.
Griffin Hospital/Griffin Health is a nonprofit entity. Part of its federal tax exemption requires the organization to provide “community benefit.”
The Armory project benefits the community — youth in particular — just like other Griffin community service projects, such as helping to keep the Valley’s food pantries stocked, Charmel said.
The decision to embark on the renovation project was made by Griffin’s board of directors.
Members of the Board of Aldermen were floored by Griffin Health’s generosity.
“I can’t imagine how many lives Griffin and the city saved through these clinics, and stopped a lot of people from getting sick,” Alderman Joseph Jeanette Jr. said. “This is tremendous what you’re doing.”
Despite Herculean efforts to get shots to people, vaccinating Ansonia residents against COVID-19 has been difficult compared to neighboring communities.
According to July 7 data from the state, 51.3 percent of Ansonia residents have received their first shot.
In Derby, it’s 65 percent, 64 percent in Shelton, 60 percent in Seymour, 62.7 percent in Oxford, 60 percent in Beacon Falls, 69 percent in Orange, 74 percent in Woodbridge, 65 percent in Bethany, and 55.9 percent in Naugatuck.
Click here and here for more on Griffin’s efforts to protect the public — in the Valley and beyond — from COVID-19.
