Wednesday, the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development held a hearing in Town Hall on Cohanzie School, saying they were willing to work with the town to save the historic building and balance the “economic needs” with the “preservation needs.”
Yet the reaction was quite the opposite. The majority of the audience, which was composed mostly of people who live in the neighborhood, said they didn’t have strong feelings if the building was knocked down or not. Instead, they were worried what was going to be built there, and hoped something would happen soon.
“To be honest with you, it would probably be better if it did get knocked down,” said Phil Fowler, who lives on Dayton Road, next to the school. “But if someone comes in there and says I have a perfectly good use and I can adapt this building, I’m all for it. But I haven’t seen anyone step up to the plate yet.”
In June, Waterford Town Historian Bob Nye asked for and had Cohanzie School put on the state’s historic register. With that designation, the state now considers knocking the building down – its original plan - a “significant impact on the environment,” and is more likely to try to find someone to save the building, according to Dan Forrest of the Connecticut Historic Preservation Office.
Forrest said he would work with the town to try to save the building, suggesting he was doing it in the interest of the neighborhood. Yet several people in the neighborhood showed up at the meeting, and said while keeping it would be nice, the real concern is what the building is going to be turned into.
“To me, it doesn’t matter,” said Dave Chapman, who lives near Cohanzie School. “If it could be saved, and done up, yea… But I’m more worried about what’s going to be there.”
The DECD will take comment from the public about what should be done with the building until October 4. Then, the state will reveal its plans within a month, including if it will knock the building down or try to save it, according to DECD officials.
The Story
Cohanzie School, which sits at 40 Dayton Road, has been vacant since 2008, after the town went from five elementary schools to three. Waterford secured a $457,000 grant from the DECD in March to knock down the building and remediate the land.
But in June, Nye had the building put on the state’s historical register. The school was built in 1923, and has historical significance, Nye said. Also, by putting it on the state register, it allows developers to qualify for tax breaks if they keep the building, he said.
“My point in doing that was so the developer could use the tax credits,” Nye said. “That would make the project doable.”
But with that designation, the state now considers knocking the building down a “significant environmental impact” to the neighborhood, and is reluctant to knock the building down, Forrest said. Instead, the state would make more of an effort to have the building be reused, theoretically to back the will of the people.
Yet when Patch interviewed the people in the neighborhood, their concerns were about what was being built there. They said it would be nice if the building could be reused, but really what they wanted was for something to be done and done quickly.
“We’d like to get it moving now,” said Dave DeNoia, who lives at 39 Dayton Road.
What They Want
The neighbors all agreed that they did not want another retail outlet at the spot, as the area is already surrounded by retail outlets like the Crystal Mall, route: {:controller=>"listings", :action=>"show", :id=>"crystal-mall"} --> and
