Opposition brewing against process for re-purposing Board of Ed building

On the RTM (Representative Town Meeting) agenda for Monday, April 21, there will be a vote to appropriate $50,000 for a consultant to review the proposals received for re-purposing the Havemeyer Building. There have been six confidential RFP proposals ranging from commerical office space, ampitheatre/concert venue, retirement home, condominiums, and a hotel. Located at 290 Greenwich Avenue and built in the 1890s, the Havemeyer Building is currently the home of the Board of Education.

Selectman's Point of View. First Selectman Fred Camillo would like to move this project along. The Havemeyer Building sits on a property estimated to be worth up to $100 million. It has 53,000 square foot of space and the Board of Education only needs at most 20,000 square feet of space to operate. The Board of Education is eager to move, but with conditions - they insist on having a downtown location.

Letter from D1. A letter to the RTM submitted by 11 of 19 District One (D1) members, made a case for voting against this funding. The letter was signed by mostly Democrat members of D1, listed here.

The letter claimed the process for setting up the committee was flawed. No public hearing has been held, and there has been no serious engagement of District One residents (where the builidng is located). The letter writers are disappointed that the RFP committee does not have any D1 representatives. They further claim that none of the proposed uses "return the building to the people". Their issue is that the proposals on the table prioritize the building's highest economic use ie. profit-seeking, treating public use as a secondary concern.

Between the Lines: The truth is that this once beautiful building has been a drain on resources of the taxpayer ("the people") for far too long. Let's move forward to find a solution that is both beautiful and makes economic sense for the Town.

Story here