Southeast Conn. towns vie for Coast Guard Academy

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Three towns that worked together to keep the Navy's submarine base in southeast Connecticut six years ago are gearing up for a little competition, as the Coast Guard Academy considers whether to stay in New London or move some operations from its southeast Connecticut campus.

Officials in the towns of Preston and Norwich hope to lure programs at the academy from New London, which has been home to the academy for more than a century.

Rear Adm. Sandra L. Stosz, the academy's superintendent, said the Coast Guard, like the Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marines, has expanded since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Its mission also grew after Hurricane Katrina pummeled the Gulf Coast in 2005 and the months-long oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

"The reason the Coast Guard Academy wants to expand is because the Coast Guard mission and work force have expanded steadily since 9/11," she said.

Leadership center functions have moved from California and Virginia and the Coast Guard's officer candidate program, which requires classroom space, has been established at the academy's 103-acre campus. In addition, a ship simulator that dates to the 1980s needs to be replaced, also requiring more space.

In addition, the number of cadets has risen in the past decade by a couple of hundred, to about 1,050, the academy said.

A deal for the Coast Guard to buy park land from New London to expand was rejected by city voters last November, setting in motion discussions about where the academy can expand. The academy has been at its current site since 1932, but has been in in New London since 1910.

Robert Congdon, the first selectman of Preston, said academy programs should remain in the region, but said a former hospital site vacant since 1996 is available.

"I think every effort should be made to accommodate their needs in New London," he said. "If that cannot happen, we need to find a solution that does work in southeastern Connecticut. Could it be the Norwich state hospital? Absolutely. There's property throughout southeastern Connecticut."

Norwich Alderman Charles Jaskiewicz said he invited Stosz to speak with Norwich officials about possibly moving programs to the city. A meeting is set for mid-February.

"What we did was the neighborly thing to do, to reach out," he said.

Jaskiewicz said he does not believe he is undermining efforts by New London to hold on to all Coast Guard Academy programs.

"Anything we could do to offer them to maintain their presence and grow in Connecticut," he said. "It's not about overtaking New London."

Stosz said Coast Guard officials insist the academy will not leave New London even if some programs move.

"The Coast Guard Academy is not going anywhere," she said. "We've been in the community for over 100 years."

Still, she agreed to meet with Norwich officials.

"I think it's important to know what our options are," Stosz said.

She also had her first meeting that she called a "meet and greet" recently with New London Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio.

Finizio would not comment on what the city can do to keep the academy in its entirety in New London.

Through a spokesman, he said he looks forward to meeting with Stosz "and continuing the long-standing partnership between New London and the Coast Guard."

Competition between towns and cities for parts of the academy set off alarms among regional officials who remember the successful efforts in 2005 to keep the Navy's submarine base in southeast Connecticut. The Groton base, a major employer in the region, was targeted for closing by the federal base realignment commission.

State and local elected officials and area businesses organized a lobbying effort that kept the base open.

Waterford First Selectman Daniel Steward, who heads the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments, said he does not want to see the 20 municipalities in the regional group competing against each other to relocate parts of the Coast Guard Academy.

"What I'm trying to do is get people to back off. What we should be doing is work together and our intent is to work together," he said. "It shouldn't be 'I'm better than them, you should come visit me.'"

The immediate need is for New London to keep the Coast Guard Academy in its entirety, Steward said.

"If you've broken something, fix it," he said.