Newtown Task Force Decides to Build New School at Old Sandy Hook Site

On Friday, after an exhaustive search that included 40 possible new locations, a specially-appointed Newtown task force decided to demolish the old Sandy Hook Elementary school and erect a brand-new building in its place.

The decision to start fresh with Sandy Hook Elementary was predictably emotional, according to an account of the Friday meeting from the New Haven Register. A 28-person task force had considered several other locations for the school, which was the site of a horrific shooting on Dec. 14 that left 20 first-grade students and six teachers dead. Starting completely from scratch was obviously a pretty expensive option, but the task force concluded that any of their options for breaking new ground would meet with their own unique set of challenges.

From the Register:

First Selectman Patricia Llodra said the new school would cost between $42 million and $47 million, whether it was built at the SAC field, which would require a great deal of site work, or the current school site, which will require the existing building to be demolished.

Task force members, who are on the boards of selectmen, finance and education and the Legislative Council, expressed concerns about how either choice would affect people emotionally. Each site comes with its own challenges, they said.

Although some Newtown residents have expressed their reservations about returning to the school’s old site, the task force’s decision to demolish the old building has palliated the concerns of many residents.

Sandy Hook school to be demolished, new school to be built on same site [New Haven Register]