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Commission Wants Old East Haven High School Sold to Private Developer

By Jack Kramer

Courier Correspondent

The Blue Ribbon Commission voted unanimously this week, after weeks of meetings and public hearings, to send the mayor a letter recommending that East Haven sell the old high school building at 200 Tyler Street to a private developer.

The letter to Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr., outlines several recommendations, number one of which is make the land again a “tax-generating property for the town.”

The other recommendations are:

— that the town incur no cost (or nominal costs) in the sale and redevelopment of the building (rehabilitation costs should be borne, as much as possible, by the developer;

— ensure that any development plan with a housing component, insofar as numbers and types dwellings, be consistent with the character of the neighborhood and the town’s overall plan of development;

— provide for the complete rehabilitation, per the town’s specifications, of the pool and gymnasium facilities on the property at the cost and expense of the chosen developer;

— provide suitable, modernized operating facilities to town specifications for the Historical Society and Teen Center and, if possible, negotiate for retaining or using a portion of the auditorium for artistic purposes;

— limit the project to the 4.8 acre site and restrict the expansion of the project beyond the footprint of the existing building so as to protect neighboring residents;

— require that any developer, prior to being chosen, provide proof of completion of similar, like-kind projects;

— require that any developer demonstrate, prior to being chosen, the financial ability to complete such a project;

— require that any developer post adequate performance bonds with respect to any rehabilitation work to be performed for the benefit of the town;

— require historically sensitive rehabilitation measures that will preserve the historic components of the building and the character of the neighborhood; and

— encourage developers to pursue historically-sensitive rehabilitation grants, as opposed to project-based subsidies, in rehabilitating and operating the property.

Maturo is expected to review the commission’s recommendation and submit his own recommendation to the Town Council, which would then schedule a series of its own public hearings on future use of the old high school site.