Mayor urges retaining Green Street School and repairing it incrementally

Mayor Nocera told the Middletown Economic Development Committee that the city should retain Green Street School and repair it over time rather than put it on the market. "Our city needs swing space," he said, adding that the building is structurally sound but needs new heating, air-conditioning and elevator work and that the city will obtain multiple cost surveys and put the work out to bid.

The recommendation followed a committee tour of the building. Committee Chair Councilman Vinnie Lefredo said members who inspected the school "made an effort to retain this building" and noted the bond package was adjusted to address municipal facilities and maintenance needs. Councilwoman Jeanette Blackwell called Green Street "a beautiful, historic space" important to neighborhood residents and said she supported the mayor's plan.

Why it matters: The committee's backing keeps Green Street in city hands for the near term, preserves a neighborhood resource and ties rehabilitation work to the city's bond-funded capital program. The mayor said some large equipment (chillers) can cost in the hundreds of thousands and that repairs will be staged to spread costs.

Details and next steps: The administration has contracted BG to survey costs and will hire two additional firms for independent estimates. Staff said the city will take the project to bid for construction and equipment replacement; the mayor also said planned spring road work on Green Street and Ferry Street may create an opportunity to add about five or six parking spaces adjacent to the school. Committee members said the committee will not pursue a sale of Green Street at this time and that the item is no longer before this committee for disposition.

The committee did not take a formal vote on a renovation contract at this meeting; staff will return with cost estimates and a recommended procurement schedule.