Community Corner

There May Be Hope For Cohanzie School Afterall

Public pressure persuades Waterford's Board of Selectmen to hire Planimetrics as a consultant to study the viability of repurposing the historic school.

When Kathleen Reagan first appeared at Waterford Town Hall with 11th hour pleas to save Cohanzie School from demolition, she was a lone voice screaming in the wind.

Waterford's Representative Town Meeting (RTM) had already voted to raze the school and the town was in the process of taking the final steps required in order to take down the historic building. To many, it seemed like her efforts were too little, too late. 

But Reagan managed to rally others to her cause and their collective voices became too loud to ignore. And now it seems the school may have a stay of execution. 

On Tuesday, Waterford's Board of Selectmen voted to waive the usual bidding process to hire Planimetrics to conduct a study to see how the old school might be repurposed. The process will include at least one, if not more, public meetings to get input from the community about what people would like to see happen with the site. 

"We figured we'd take a step back and see if there are potential ways to reuse the building," said Waterford Planning Director Dennis Goderre. "The idea is to get everyone around the table and looking at what the market will bear as to what might be viable." 
 
First Selectman Dan Steward said the town felt Planimetrics was best suited for the task because it's the same firm that put together the town's plan of development and conservation. Planimetrics "knows the town and the players," said Steward, and would be in the best position to determine how the building "fits in with the plan of development for the town."

The town has until the end of 2014 before the roughly $500,000 "brownfields" grant it secured to deal with the site and its associated environmental issues expires. Some of that money will be used to pay Planimetrics. Waiving the bidding process to hire Planimetrics enables the town to move forward faster. 

"We're hoping to begin going forward at the end of July," said Steward.

At the same time, the town will continue on with its existing plan to deal with the environmental issues, such as lead paint and underground tanks, that need to be taken care of regardless of whether the building remains intact or not. The next step in that process is to put out an Request for Qualifications to find an environmental consultant. Once hired, the consultant will come up with a plan of remediation for the site.

The town also plans to put out a request for interest sometime within the next six months to see which, if any, developers might be interested in the site. 

Cohanzie School, while fondly regarded and cherished in the memories of many Waterford residents, isn't safe from ultimate destruction. But town leaders have been persuaded that, like a condemned prisoner, it's at least entitled to one final appeal. 

Goderre stressed, however, that since the RTM has voted to demolish the building, the RTM would need to vote to change that decision if Planimetrics comes up with a viable proposal to repurpose the building.   


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