Seantor, Reps Secure Funding for Veterans Memorial Elementary School, Norwich Fire Department

NORWICH, CT – State Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) and state Representatives Kevin Ryan (D-Norwich) and Emmett Riley (D-Norwich) announced Friday that the State Bond Commission has approved more than $500,000 in funding for projects in Norwich.

The commission voted to approve a $460,000 grant-in-aid to the Veterans Memorial Elementary School in Norwich and $85,000 to the City of Norwich, according to a release.

The funding for Veterans Memorial will be used to make to help address building and site

deficiencies, and to promote the health, safety, and learning of the students at the school, through the State Department of Education.

The funding allocated to the City of Norwich will be used to construct a storage structure for the Norwich Fire Department.

“This funding is essential to ensuring our local children have access to a safe environment where they can thrive inside and outside of the classroom,” Osten said in a release. “I am also appreciative that the State Bond Commission has invested in the Norwich Fire Department. Providing our firefighters with adequate space to properly care for their equipment just makes sense – for the personnel, and to ensure their equipment is protected.”

“I’m glad to see these investments in Veterans Memorial Elementary School and the Norwich Fire Department,” Ryan said in a release. “Providing students with a high quality education and ensuring that our first responders have the necessary facilities and equipment to do their jobs is critical for Norwich and Connecticut.”

“This is great news for both education and public safety in Norwich,” Riley said in a release. “This financial assistance from the state makes it possible to enhance our schools and fire department in ways that would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to finance on the local level.”

The State Bond Commission approved the two items at its meeting this morning at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.