Building Committee Recommends Rebuild of Town Hall
NEWINGTON - The Town Hall Renovation Project Building Committee consensus is that a demolition and rebuild is the way to go, so they’ll take that to the Town Council for its opinion this Tuesday night.

       That’s when the Council will review a $37 million proposal to construct a new Town Hall building on the existing Cedar Street site. Architects from Kaestle Boos projected that renovating the building could add up to $7 million to that price tag. With a single gymnasium blueprint for the Mortensen Community Center, the rebuilding cost would be about $1 million less.

       The $37 million price tag has been a subject of concern from committee members who say that even the $30.3 million cost of the last proposal, struck down in a Sept. 9 referendum, was unpopular with residents for financial reasons.

       The version of the project heading to the Council is expected to be around $30 million before soft costs are factored in.

       The Project Building Committee has $29.5 million in the Long Range Capital Improvement Program (CIP) funds for work on the Town Hall. There has been speculation as to whether that figure is a defined budget, or a â€"holding number.”

       â€"Actually, it could be either one,” wrote Director of Administrative Services Jeff Baron in an email. â€"There wouldn’t be a formal appropriation until after an amount passes referendum, but the Town Council could consider that amount to be their cap.”

       The committee has been reviewing a slew of blueprints in an effort to address the space needs of the building’s departments. Tentative schematics have shown the layout of the site with both a single gymnasium and a double.

       The latest blueprint has the Transition Academy on the ground floor--a move prompted by residents concerned with evacuation and safety logistics in the event of an emergency.

       The committee’s initial goal was to go to referendum in time for the November election, but members have since acknowledged that that scenario is unlikely.
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