The Berlin
Cit itiz ize en Berlin’s Only Hometown Newspaper
Volume 16, Number 9
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Mayor welcomes new department store to Berlin By Melissa Chicker The Berlin Citizen
Mayor Adam Salina is pleased to welcome the newest addition to the growing developments made recently in town, Kohl’s Department store. The mayor announced in a Feb. 21 press release that a lease between Kohl’s Department Stores, Inc. and Cedar Brickyard, LLC was filed in the Town of Berlin Land Records Jan. 25. The memorandum of lease concerns a proposed 58,417 square foot Kohl’s Department Store to be built in Brick-
yard Plaza Shopping Center, 245 Berlin Turnpike. The store is to be constructed on a portion of the space formerly occupied by Sam’s Club. Cedar Brickyard LLC obtained site plan approval for the project from the Planning and Zoning Commission in April 2011. A demolition permit was issued by the town in July 2011 and recently the contractor has completed removal of the former build-
See Kohls, page 4
Spotlight on the schools This ongoing series highlights the status of and activities of schools throughout town. Through interviews with administrators, the spotlight gives each of the schools a chance to show what’s new, what’s challenging and what’s great about its people, programs and facility. Look for your school in an upcoming spotlight; this week the focus is on:
Emma Hart Willard Elementary Who was Emma Hart Willard? “In 1814, Emma Hart Willard began educating young women in her home in Middlebury, Vermont. Her goal: to provide these students with an education equal to that offered their brothers. So began a revolutionary commitment to the education of women.” — Taken from the history of the Emma Willard School in Troy N.Y
The site of the old Sams Club building demolished to make way for the upcoming Kohls Department Store.
High school renovation plan approved by BOE By Melissa Chicker The Berlin Citizen
The Board of Education voted unanimously to approve the current renovation plans for the high school. The approval will be taken to the Public Building Commission, which will send the plans to the state to sign off on the plans. Dean Petrucelli of Sliv-
er/Petrucelli + Associates took BOE members and the small audience of citizen through the revised and final plan, showing changes made from the original plan, which came in over the $69.9 million voted on in the referendum. Tom Smith of Gilbane Inc. of Glastonbury, project manager, was also in attendance to explain the new technolo-
gy education wing. Smith said the new plan is on budget. The biggest change to the plan was the science wing, which will be a part of the existing building, not its own entity. “This new plan will meet current and future educational needs by utilizing additional space as well as See Renovation, page 16
By Karen Brancato Special to The Citizen Willard School educates 491 students in pre-kindergarten through grade five. Salvatore Urso is the school’s principal. The newest administrator is assistant principal Lauren
Feltz. Serving in her second year, she came to Willard from the Wilton Public Schools in Fairfield County, where she served as a primary grade classroom teacher and math in-
See Elementary, page 6
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