Residents to vote Saturday on Hinsdale renovation

WINSTED — Town residents will vote Saturday on whether to renovate the Mary P. Hinsdale Elementary School.

The polls will be open for the referendum from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Pearson School on Wetmore Avenue, according to the town website.

Residents will be asked whether to allocate $17.43 million “for costs related to renovations, improvements and additions to Mary P. Hinsdale Elementary School to provide a preK through Grade 2 facility; and authorize the issue of bonds and notes to finance the portion of the appropriation not defrayed from grants,” according to the town.

Officials have moved toward reopening the Hinsdale School instead of renovating Batcheller Elementary School, with Superintendent of Schools Melony BradyShanley noting in April that Hinsdale is more structurally sound and in a preferable location.

Aspects of the planned Hinsdale construction effort include: removing an original portion of the building to eliminate the culvert that currently runs under the school; adding 7,700 square feet of new classroom space; replacing ceilings and floors that are in poor condition; adding a new play area for students; and replacing sidewalks, paving and curbing outside the building.

The town expects to receive approximately $7 million in grants from the state to help fund the project, according to a resolution scheduling the vote approved by the Board of Selectmen in August.

Hinsdale was closed in 2016 during the tenure of state Receiver Robert Travaglini.

If construction were to proceed as anticipated, students would be expected to move into the fresh Hinsdale School in fall 2021.

A legal dispute over the ownership of the Hinsdale property between the W.L. Gilbert Trust, which oversees The Gilbert School and claims it regained control over the property when the school was closed, and the town, remains in progress in Litchfield Judicial District Court in Torrington.

BradyShanley said in April that, while Town Attorney Kevin Nelligan believes “very strongly” that the town will win the suit, the case could require “serious reworking of the site plan.”

Nelligan claimed in a special defense filed in May that the suit has “no factual basis” and is an improper use of the legal process, brought to gain leverage during ongoing contractual negotiations and damage the town financially when it seeks money to renovate the Hinsdale building.

The W.L. Gilbert Trust filed a request on Aug. 19 asking that the town revise its counterclaim, asking repeatedly that Nelligan consider “the deletion of unnecessary, repetitious, scandalous, impertinent, immaterial or otherwise improper allegations” and further specify other claims to allow for a response.

Ben Lambert / Hearst Connecticut Media A Hinsdale School renovation could cost $17.43 million.

Leslie Hutchison / Hearst Connecticut Media The culvert section that now runs under the twostory wing at Hinsdale School would be removed to allow the brook to flow naturally toward the Mad River.