Meriden committee reviews $11.34 million plan to renovate 165 Miller St. for health clinic and Success Academy

At a Meriden city committee meeting, project manager Mark McDonnell of Silver Petrucelli Architects presented plans to renovate 165 Miller Street so the first floor houses the city health department and the second floor becomes a Board of Education Success Academy. McDonnell said the current cost estimate for the health-department portion is $11,335,000, or about $625 per square foot.

The presentation matters because the city plans to seek state construction funds. Unidentified city staff said the team will submit a CIF (Construction Improvement Fund) application this winter and is targeting a filing no later than Dec. 3 to meet the noon Dec. 5 upload deadline. If awarded, state review and contracting could push construction toward a 20282029 completion window.

McDonnell described the layout and access changes: public entrances to the health department will be on Miller Street, the building's center entrance will be limited to exiting only, and the school will use a separate secure second-floor entry. "The main entrance will be closed, basically, except for exiting," McDonnell said, describing a reception-style vestibule model that will control…