Ad-hoc panel studying best use for former Center Elementary School

By Scott Benjamin

BROOKFIELD -- The future of the now-defunct Center Elementary School (CES) - which was the oldest school in Connecticut when it closed in 2023, and the only one constructed all in wood - will be determined after an architectural review and environmental study are completed and residents provide feedback on potential activities.

In response to a question from Selectman Tara Carr, Bob Zinser, the chairman of an ad-hoc committee studying the project, told the Board of Selectmen at the Monday night, February 3, monthly meeting that no determination has been made regarding whether CES will have to be demolished, restructured or renovated. He indicated that recommendation would come following the architectural and environmental reviews.

The school, which had students from pre-kindergarten through first grade, was renovated in 1996.

Zinser, who chaired an earlier ad-hoc panel on CES that had been appointed in 2019, said a Building Subcommittee of the panel will be in charge of monitoring the structural review.

He said a separate Community Engagement Subcommittee plans to distribute news letters and post suggestion boxes at the Brookfield Library, the town hall and schools to get more feedback on what activities residents want to occupy the former school, which is located on Route 133/Obtuse Hill Road.

The school district now educates students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade at the Candlewood Lake Elementary School, which opened in August 2023. That project was approved at referendum in 2019.

Frist Selectman Steve Dunn has said through the years that part of the building could house a new library. Officials at the current library building on Whisconier Road have discussed since at least 1999 the need for a larger facility. The current library opened in 1975.

A proposal to build a new library on the municipal campus off of Pocono Road was defeated in February 2018 by a nearly 2:1 ratio at referendum.

Zinser indicated that the also will probably be interest in parts of the former school being used as a community center, for Parks & Recreation activities and as a food pantry.

Dunn has said that the town can start bonding for major capital projects in 2026 when the renovations from Brookfield High School, which were approved at referendum in 2003, are completed paid for.

However, he has emphasized that the first capital project should be the enlargement of the police headquarters on Silvermine Road or a new, larger facility. Dunn has said the current headquarters, which opened in the 1980s, doesn't comply with federal law enforcement standards.

In January the selectmen started making appointments to an ah-hoc committee to study the police facilities.

That panel will include former Police Chief Jay Purcell and former Board of Education Chairman Matt Grimes.

Shortly after the start of the meeting, Selectman Bob Belden apologized for remarks he had made at the board's monthly meeting in January. He indicated that he had said that it would not be advisable for Tony Carr, Selectman Carr's husband, and Grimes to both serve on the ad-hoc police facilities committee because they had engaged in a dispute when Grimes was a candidate for the Republican nomination for first selectman in 2023. Tara Carr, a Republican, served as first selectman from 2021 to 2023.

Belden said that Grimes contacted him after that meeting and said that wasn't the case.

Belden said that if Tony Carr had the time and there was a position available to serve on the committee, he would have his support. Belden noted that, among other things, Carr has extensive experience in the Army.

Dunn characterized Belden's comments in January as being a "misstatement" and not an intentional effort to be untruthful.

Belden has been serving on municipal boards and commissions since 2003, including stints as chairman of the Board of Education and the Board of Finance.