Vacant Land On Pulaski Highway In The Running For New Ansonia Middle School, Officials Hope

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The land in question. Google Map image.

ANSONIA — The city is eyeing land on Pulaski Highway as a site for a potential new middle school.

The land totals about 27 acres. The city lists its address as 64 Pulaski Highway and 78 Pulaski Highway. The land at the town addresses was purchased in July by Ansonia Orchard LLC/Fortitude Capital for $1.15 million.

The New York City address identifies Fortitude Capital as the firm owned by Margaret Streicker, a Republican from Milford who has made recent runs for U.S. Senate and U.S. Congress.

The land is zoned for residential use. However, the city has reached out to the owner to see if a deal can be struck.

There is interest in acquiring the property for a potential new middle school. However, other properties are also under consideration,” said John Marini, Ansonia’s corporation counsel.

The current Ansonia Middle School on Howard Avenue is past its prime. School construction projects are eligible for reimbursement, up to a point, from the State of Connecticut.

The existing building is over 85 years old, and the costs of the upgrades that need to be made are very similar to building a new building based on Ansonia’s reimbursement rate,” Ansonia Superintendent of Schools Joe DiBacco said.

DiBacco said renovating the existing middle school with a like new” renovation could cost about $16-$18 million, as opposed to building a new building elsewhere for about $20 million.

Members of a school building committee had their first meeting in August.

Alderman Josh Shuart is the committee’s chairman. Board of education member and Ansonia finance department employee Rich Bshara is the vice-chairman.

Meeting minutes indicate building a middle school on the 58 acres currently housing Ansonia High School would be difficult because of environmental constraints. Meeting minutes from August indicate the 20-something acres at 64 Pulaski Highway and 78 Pulaski Highway might be best suited for a new middle school.

A representative from Fortitude Capital was also present at the August meeting, further indicating the Pulaski Highway property is a front runner. The committee gave Marini permission to start talking to landowners.

A conversation has been initiated with the owners of the Pulaski property,” Marini said. However, no agreement has been reached. At this point, the parties are discussing fair market value, and taking a close look at the latest appraisals of the property.”

DiBacco said the land on Pulaski is a good candidate due to its size.

Shuart, who is serving as commission chairman, said the commission will hold its next meeting at 7 p.m. Oct. 20. He said a new middle school has been on the city’s radar for several years.

There’s a ton of data available for Ansonia Middle School, thanks to a school regionalization study with Derby. While the talks of regionalizing failed, both cities were able to take stock of their school buildings: the consensus was that Ansonia Middle School should be replaced, if possible.

The current middle school is approaching 100 years old,” Shuart said. The Derby-Ansonia school regionalization committee previously discussed the possibility of merging school systems in which case the Ansonia Middle School would have been closed. The school leadership has long asked the city to consider a new school for the middle school students.”


Meeting minutes from a school building committee meeting.

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