New school offices nearly ready

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NAUGATUCK — The Board of Education is getting ready to move its offices from Church Street to Rubber Avenue.

Assistant Superintendent of Schools Christopher Montini said last week that the board will move its offices from the Tuttle Building on Church Street to a wing of the newly-renovated Naugatuck High School in December.

“We are nearing the end of the construction for the [Board of Education] space. We hope to hold the next board meeting, on Dec. 10, in the new board room,” Montini told the Board of Education at its Nov. 12 meeting.

The new Board of Education office is the final piece of an $81 million renovate-to-new project at the high school, which started in April 2013.

The offices will be housed in the wing of the high school that was previously the industrial arts section. The space has been totally renovated.

Deputy Mayor Robert Neth, who chairs the Naugatuck High School Renovation Committee, said the space will have 12 to 15 offices, including the conference rooms. He added the new offices will boast a much more modern space than the board’s current location.

The new offices are accessed by a separate driveway, which is adjacent to the school’s main entrance.

Montini said officials expect to begin the move on Friday, Dec. 11. The offices should be fully functional on Monday, Dec. 14, he said.

With the school board moving out of the Tuttle Building, the plan is for the Naugatuck Historical Society and the Naugatuck Economic Development Corporation to move in.

The society’s museum and the NEDC office used to be located in the former train station on Water Street, which the borough is currently in the process of selling.

The society is temporarily calling a storefront at 171 Church St. home. The NEDC office is currently at the former headquarters of Ion Insurance Corp., 270 Church St.

Repairs are needed to the Tuttle Building before the society and NEDC can settle into its new home.

Naugatuck Historical Society President Ken Hanks said there are three major issues at the Tuttle Building that will need to be addressed: the leaking roof and concurrent water damage, repairs to the fire sprinkler system, and an elevator will have to be installed.

The historical society and NEDC aren’t likely to move into the Tuttle Building until 2017.

Hanks said repairing the building will cost money, but added it would be worse to just let it fall apart.

“The worst thing that can happen is in five years the building is boarded up and falling apart,” Hanks said. “This will be our flagship building. It will be the first thing you see as you enter Naugatuck down Route 63.”