FARMINGTON, Conn. (WTNH) — Many could say Thursday’s voter turnout in Farmington was slow, but those who cast their ballot wanted their voices heard about what happens to the town’s high school building once the school relocates in 2024 to a new facility now under construction next door.
“The building should be preserved, and we should keep it as an iconic building in our town of Farmington,” Carmen Bonetti said.
But not everyone agrees.
“I don’t feel that maintaining that building any longer is good for the town,” said one voter who declined to give her name to News 8.
The referendum to appropriate $16 million for the renovation to the 1928 section of the building passed with 1,264 votes in favor, and 625 against, according to preliminary election results.
Those who voted for the referendum wanted to see offices from town hall move into the current high school building. Those who voted against the referendum want to see the building from 1928 come down.
Leaders said preserving and renovating the building would cost $16.5 million. Taxpayers would cover $9 million and the other $7 million would be paid with federal COVID-19 pandemic money.
“We should keep that school the way it is now,” Jo-Ann Riley said. “There’s a lot of memories.”
The 77-year-old said that for many people in town, the building brings back memories for their families.
“I went to school there, [as did] my kids, my husband, my brothers, my cousins. Keep the school,” Riley said.
The school sits on a hill above the current town hall building.
If voters approve, town hall would move up the hill, sitting next to the new high school building.
One voter against the plan, who did not want to give her name to News 8, said sharing the same grounds would be a security concern.
“We’re making that into the town hall, and that makes that open to anyone to come in and out at any time of day,” the voter said. “Why would we allow that to happen when we’re so nervous for our students, as it is when we’re trying to lock down their campuses more and more?”
