$16M Sale To Save 2 Elementary Schools In Hamden: Mayor

HAMDEN, CT — The town has agreed to sell Wintergreen School to Area Cooperative Educational Services for $16 million, officials announced Wednesday.

Mayor Curt Balzano Leng said proceeds from the agreement, which needs various approvals from the Board of Education and Legislative Council, would keep two elementary schools open that were previously slated to close. The Board of Education voted in 2018 to close Church Street and Shepherd Glen schools.

Leng also said that some of the proceeds would go toward the renovation of the Keefe Community Center and Firehouse 2 on Circular Avenue.

Leng announced the sale agreement at a news conference with Board of Education Chairman Arturo Perez-Cabello, Secretary Melinda Lavelle-Saller, and Superintendent of Schools Jody Goeler on Wednesday afternoon.

ACES approached the town with an intent to purchase after negotiations with Leng, the Board of Education, and Goeler, according to a news release. ACES Executive Director Thomas Danehy made a $16 million offer to buy Wintergreen School.

“In the terms, Hamden will provide a seller’s mortgage for the total purchase amount, amortized over 5 years at a 0.5% interest rate payable over 60 equal monthly payments of $47,870 and a balloon payment of $13,497,147 paid by ACES,” officials wrote in the news release.

“This sale allows us to save Church Street and Shepherd Glen School, supporting neighborhood schools that are doing great work with our students,” Leng said in a statement. “It’s an amazing opportunity in many, many ways.”

Perez-Cabello said the Board of Education has been “very concerned with the prospect of closing two neighborhood schools.”

“It is a very positive development to have reached a deal with ACES to buy the Wintergreen building,” Perez-Cabello said. “This will allow HPS to keep Church Street and Shepherd Glen schools, and improve municipal fiscal conditions to continue completing building repairs and renovations."

Upon closing, the town intends to use the $16 million proceeds by allocating $10 million toward a Hamden School Renovation fund, allowing for “much needed major renovations at Shepherd Glen, millions in investments into other Hamden schools and bypassing the need to borrow for these projects thereby potentially saving millions of dollars in interest,” the news release states.

The remaining $6 million of the proceeds will be allocated to the town for use investing in the Keefe Community Center and Firehouse 2 on Circular Avenue, with the “aim of completing renovations which have been much needed for years and again bypassing the need to borrow,” according to the news release.

“Shepard Glen School is home to students speaking more than 25 languages - it’s a very special place in a neighborhood with 8,000 residents nearby,” Leng said. “Every other school in Hamden is just as special, and we need to take every chance we get to support and improve these community assets. We’ve listened to our families, listened to our neighborhoods, and we’ve taken action."

The sale agreement will require approval from various municipal entities, including a formal vote by the Board of Education and the Legislative Council.

Watch the full news conference below: