Nora Grace-Flood photo
The abandoned Newhall middle school: Still deteriorating.
Developers hired six years ago to reimagine and rebuild the site of an abandoned Hamden middle school — which six years later is instead still deteriorating — have been granted a three-month extension to get a plan going.
The Legislative Council Monday night voted to grant that three-month extension to NeighborWorks New Horizons, the nonprofit organization that was supposed to build 87 affordable and market-rate apartments on the property and convert the middle school into a community center.
Now the organization has until Oct. 22 to offer the town a fresh course of action for the site, which is expected to change from the original vision. Had the vote gone in the opposite direction, Neighborworks’ contract with the town would have expired on July 22.
That decision arrived one week after a contentious committee meeting in which council members debated Erik Johnson, Hamden’s economic development director, on the best path forward for 560 Newhall St. Read more about that in this previous story.
NeighborWorks will most likely have to propose an entirely new project to the town come October given further damage to the building and recently discovered environmental concerns related to the site. If the town does not approve of NeighborWorks’ final proposal for the property, Hamden will go out to bid with new developers.
Makes zero sense.