Manchester secures $2.2 million in tax credits for Bowers Elementary School renovations

Joseph Villanova

MANCHESTER — A $2.2 million tax credit for Bowers Elementary School is expected to reduce the burden on Manchester taxpayers for "net-zero energy" renovations that were completed last year.

Town officials announced last week that the forthcoming credit leverages the federal Inflation Reduction Act's clean energy tax credits, typically granted to individuals and households but allowing for local governments to take part as well.

Earlier this year, the state of Connecticut received funds through the act for development of urban forests.

Manchester officials said in a statement that the tax credit will help to reduce the debt issuance needed for the project, reducing the burden on taxpayers as a result of school renovation plans laid out more than five years ago.

In June 2019, voters approved up to $88 million in bonding for the SMARTR2 school renovation project, which encompassed major reworks of three elementary school buildings with a focus on sustainability. 

Manchester initially allocated $5 million from the town's reserve fund for the project and ultimately acquired $81 million in bonds for the project, with roughly two-thirds coming from the state's Construction Grant Program.

Buckley Elementary re-opened in September 2022 as the first K-12 school verified by the state as producing net-zero emissions, employing solar panels and geothermal wells to generate electricity and provide heating and cooling.

Bowers Elementary followed suit in September 2023, leveraging similar systems for net-zero operations, and Keeney Elementary is expected to re-open in time for the upcoming school year.

Manchester has received outside funding for the school renovations since the 2019 referendum, including $1.9 million from the federal government in March 2024 to keep up with rising costs of solar and geothermal equipment.

Town officials said that the town is preparing to submit for tax credits for "similar financial benefits" on Keeney as well as the new Main Street library, which also aims for "net-zero" operations.

Finance Director Kimberly Lord said in a statement Thursday that the town is proud to save money through the tax credit.

"This initiative not only benefits our community financially but also contributes to a sustainable future for generations to come," Lord said.

Town Manager Steve Stephanou gave thanks to Lord and other town staff for their efforts in a statement Thursday.

"Securing this cost savings through the IRA clean energy tax credits is a testament to our town's commitment to both financial stewardship and sustainability," Stephanou said.

$43M renovation OK'd for Old Greenwich School includes enclosed courtyard, basketball court

Robert Marchant

GREENWICH — The Planning & Zoning Commission approved major renovations at Old Greenwich School at its meeting Tuesday. 

The commission voted unanimously to approve plans to construct an 8,000 square-foot addition with four new classrooms, a new main 
entrance, improved handicap access and additional recreation space.

The construction work is estimated to be in the $43 million range, and work is expected to start next year, the summer of 2025. Financing and budgeting the project has been a source of debate and deliberations for over two years. The last major renovation at the school was undertaken in 1996.

The building was constructed in 1902 and lacked access for people with disabilities. A new elevator will be built at the school.

In addition, a new enclosed courtyard will be built, providing sheltered outdoor instructional space. A new play area and a basketball court, 
to the west of the school building, are part of the planned construction.

The construction work will remove five trees from the site, but they will be replaced with new plantings. Once completed, the campus will have  six new shade trees, seven ornamental trees and approximately 170 shrubs. The site will also have around 7,000 square feet of ground cover planted. Improvements to prevent flooding, including a redesigned plaza to move water away from the building toward a drainage system, are in store.

The commission approved the construction plan without comment after reading the resolution approving the site plan. 

Dozens of parents, community leaders and educators spoke in favor of the renovations and expansion over the course of the lengthy review process. The school serves over 400 students and 75 staff members.

The The Board of Estimate and Taxation approved the vast majority of the funding for the Old Greenwich School upgrades in March. Some cost reimbursement from the state is expected as the work proceeds. The construction will be done in a phases to allow students to remain in school during the construction.

Middletown officials considering $54.6 million bond to upgrade 100-year-old school, 911 center

Cassandra Day

MIDDLETOWN — A Common Council presentation later this month will outline two bond questions proposed for the November ballot totaling $54.6 million.

The circa 1924 Macdonough Elementary School on Spring Street is in “significant” need of upgrades, Mayor Ben Florsheim said at Monday’s Council meeting.

It is named for Commodore Thomas Macdonough, commander of the American fleet on Lake Champlain during the War of 1812.  

Officials are considering a $45 million renovation and expansion at the facility on the existing property.

Some 68 percent of the cost would be reimbursable by the state, leaving the city’s portion at $13 million, Common Council President Gene Nocera said Tuesday.

Eighty percent of students at the North End school walk to classes, the mayor said. Building a state-of-the-art facility has been a “longstanding priority” for both the city and school district, he added.

A couple of decades ago, Nocera explained, the reimbursement rate was in the “high 40s. We thought that was wonderful. Now three-quarters of it is paid by the state, so that’s huge.”

When Woodrow Wilson Middle School was rebuilt as Beman Middle School in 2021, 55 percent of the project was reimbursed by the state, Florsheim explained at the meeting.

The 100-year-old Macdonough building has undergone minor renovations, said Nocera, who was a principal there from 1980 to 1985. “That school is still as it was 40 years ago. It’s so important to those children and families at that school. It's a rock. It grounds our community."

Macdonough has a “tremendous history,” Nocera said. “It’s a school that’s thriving. … It’s filled to capacity.” It is also a STEM school with a waiting list to get in.

Superintendent of Schools Alberto  Vázquez Matos spoke at the council meeting, saying that “our children deserve a state-of-the-art school,” Nocera said. 

It’s "a school that has no air conditioning, an inadequate heating system, a roof that leaks now and then, and windows that are completely inefficient with energy-saving capacity,” the councilman said. 

Macdonough also lacks enough space for children and staff to be creative, Nocera explained. “It’s 100 years old. It’s way past its usefulness in terms of a facility that can be repaired.”

Over the course of construction, estimated to take between 18 months to two years, Nocera said, the vacant former Keigwin Middle School, next to the high school, will serve primary grade students.

Macdonough is unique in many ways, he added.

“Without a doubt, it’s a school that embraces community education. … It’s more than academics,” the council president said. “It grounds the community that surrounds it,” and provides a wide range of services, including a health center, preschool, outreach programs and more.

The high percentage of students who walk to school is “unheard of today,” Nocera said. 

TSKP architects, which also designed Beman, will be working on the project, and community input will be gathered over the next several months.

Across town, the tiny, one-room emergency dispatch center at the Cross Street fire station will be entirely rebuilt and relocated to the Mile Lane emergency operations facility for a cost of $9.6 million, said Nocera, a member of the Public Safety Telecommunications Commission.

“It’s not a safe working condition for some of the most important work we do in the city of Middletown,” the mayor said. 

The town of Portland also uses the service.

“It is grossly inadequate for the work that they do. It’s (been) made to work. It’s stingy. There are no windows. It’s not conducive to any workspace,” Nocera said. “Nobody should work in those conditions.”

For information on the Aug. 19 referendum workshop, visit middletownct.gov.