Town Continues To Wrestle With Plans For Police, Education Site

NEW CANAAN, CT — New Canaan officials are continuing efforts to formulate a plan for a new police department and school system central office, as one option to house the two departments is currently about seven-figures above the town's appraisal.

The town is considering acquiring a commercial building at 258 Elm St., which currently houses Covia, a mining, oil and natural gas products and materials company. Covia is in the process of moving its corporate offices to Ohio, and company officials have spoken to First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and other town officials about New Canaan purchasing the property.

"They think the building is worth a million and a half more than we do," said Moynihan last week during a press briefing attended by Patch and other media outlets. "They'll find out, we'll all find out, what it's worth when they market it."

Two separate appraisals for the office building - one by Covia and one by the town - tell different stories. The Covia appraisal is for $9 million, which the town's appraisal is for $7.45 million.

In addition to buying the property, the town would have to expand it by at least 10,000 square feet to accommodate both the police department and the education department on the top floor. Estimated costs to renovate and add to the building is about $8 million, according to Moynihan, which does not include the building's acquisition cost.

The town spends about $300,000 a year leasing office space for the Board of Education, a cost it would like to get out from under if it can combine the schools department and police.

Another option under consideration is just renovating the current police station on South Avenue to upgrade and expand it to 24,000 square feet.

Such a move would cost about $10 million, Moynihan estimates, but the rebuilt facility would only house the police department, and the town would continue to spend $300,000 for the school system offices.

A third option is constructing a new building for the police and education groups, which would cost at least $17 million, according to Moynihan, but a site for such a facility has not been found within New Canaan.

Discussions on these - and any other potential options - will continue into 2019.

Photo of 258 Elm St., New Canaan via Google Maps

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