HAMDEN — Considered an eyesore and public hazard, the shuttered former Hamden Middle School will be razed starting in May thanks, in part, to a Legislative Council vote to hire a project manager this week.
The council voted 13-0 on Monday to authorize Mayor Lauren Garrett or Mayor-elect Adam Sendroff to sign a contract with 7 Summits Construction LLC to oversee the demolition of the middle school campus buildings and cleanup at 560 Newhall St. for $351,274.
The project entails restoring the property “to a condition that is compliant with environmental land-use restrictions,” Town Engineer Stephen White told the council.
The town is proceeding with the project for safety reasons and because there is state funding available for the razing — about $4 million — after several redevelopment plans fell through. Final demolition costs won’t be determined until contracts go out to bid in February.
The scene of at least a half-dozen fires over the last several years, the abandoned school has long plagued Hamden public safety workers despite the town placing a security fence around the building. A frequent scene of vandalism, drug use, illegal homeless shelter and fires or arson, the building was closed in 2002 and a new middle school built at 2623 Dixwell Ave.
As an example of the chronic nature of the building’s hazards, firefighters tackling one of the most recent fires in early September had to venture onto the roof and into a second-floor classroom after nightfall to douse the flames despite the building’s hazardous condition, Fire Chief Shelly L. Carter said. They didn’t know whether someone was inside the building and had to ensure no one was. No injuries were reported and no one was found there.
Under the deal, 7 Summits will act as a construction manager on the project. The previous cost of their services was $300,256. The approximately $50,000 increase comes because the company needs an additional month to handle its work, White said in a Nov. 7 memo to Garrett.
Landscape grading, grass and tree plantings, and perhaps sidewalks will be part of the project as well, once the school and its support buildings are demolished, White said.
Council members questioned why the razing was not part of a larger effort to rehabilitate the entire school grounds and why the Engineering Department would be overseeing the project day-to-day on the town’s behalf to ensure that the work is done to code and contract specifications.
“There’s no construction observer, there’s no owner’s representative. It’s going to be you [Enginnering Department] guys, and I hear all the time that you guys are really super busy, so I don’t know where you’re going to be able to find time to watch this construction project,” Council member Rhonda Caldwell said.
One of the town’s attorneys recommended that Hamden also appoint a committee to oversee the work, White said. State officials with the Department of Economic and Community Development and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection are also providing funding and reviewing town plans.
Prior to this demolition project, town officials had pursued several revitalization plans for the school property that fell through for various reasons, usually lack of grant funding or the withdrawal of a private investor or partner.
A plan to convert the old gymnasium into a community center and construct 87 apartments collapsed after seven years in 2022. A $9 million community campus, a senior center and, most recently, a youth and community center were among other scrapped ideas.
The council majority in an 8-5 vote opted against the youth and community center plan in July in the face of strong neighborhood opposition. Residents instead wanted to replace the foundations of about 300 houses in Newhall, in the southern portion of town, that were built starting in the mid-20th Century.
Under the contract with 7 Summits, the design phase of the middle school demolition will be done in January. Bids for the project’s general contractor, or demolition work, will be available in February, with prepwork or actual demolition starting in May. The project should be substantially completed by December 2026, White said.