A Google Maps image showing 126 Ford St.
ANSONIA — A resident who lives near a vacant building that once housed a nursing home wants the city’s government to form a citizen committee to play a part in the property’s future.
“As a neighbor I have a concern for what’s happening to that property, and I think there are others in my neighborhood who are concerned. We’d like to get together and look at options for the future,” neighbor Stan Kapinos said (the original version of this story misspelled Kapinos).
Kapinos made his comments during the June 8 meeting of the Ansonia Board of Aldermen. He was talking about 126 Ford St., the former home of Hilltop Health. The nursing home closed in 2013 and the building has sat vacant since then.
Hilltop Health was one of three nursing homes to close in Derby and Ansonia since 2009.
Griffin Hospital purchased a former nursing home on Chatfield Street in Derby and is now using it as parking with plans to demolish the building; a second nursing home on Marshall Lane was purchased and redeveloped into a dormitory for foreign high school students studying in the U.S.; but Hilltop Health has remained stubbornly vacant for some eight years.
Kapinos’ appearance June 8 was the second meeting in a row during which he broached the idea of a citizen committee to tackle the vacant property. He also has been emailing
Ansonia’s elected officials to get them on board.
“As a neighbor of this property for more than 35 years, I have witnessed the land go from a cornfield, to a first-class health facility, to what is now an abandoned, neglected building,” Kapinos told the Aldermen & Alderwomen during his May appearance in front of the board (via Zoom), according to meeting minutes. “It’s difficult for me to imagine what the future holds for this facility, but I’m confident that unless the neighborhood becomes actively involved, the current situation won’t change.”
Kapinos said neighbors are worried about property values, along with security and upkeep of the grounds.
Comments from a neighbor at the May Aldermen meeting.
During the June 8 meeting, Kapinos raised the idea again.
Mayor David Cassetti suggested the formation of an Aldermanic subcommittee to look at the matter. Ansonia Economic Development Sheila O’Malley reminded the elected officials and the audience that 126 Ford St. is private property, not under the jurisdiction of city government.
Kapinos said he understood that fact.
Josh Shuart, the president of the Board of Aldermen, said the elected officials would take the idea into consideration and possibly discuss it during the July meeting.
The city previously had an economic development commission. Its members were appointed volunteers. There are no minutes from the commission posted online this year.
The closure of Hilltop Health cost about 100 people their jobs and the 84 people who lived there had to find new accommodations.
