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Health care magnet school opens
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d Ground broken for Costco
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Friday, September 5, 2014
Day of reckoning Voters decide Tuesday on Mill Pond Park plan By ERICA SCHMITT STAFF WRITER
If the amount of letters to the editor the Town Crier has received is any indication, the proposed renovation to Newington Town Hall and construction of a new Mortensen Community Center is the most controversial project to hit town since Toll Brothers wanted to build housing on Cedar Mountain. Registered voters can approve or reject the $30.37 million plan by referendum on Tuesday, Sept. 9. Informational brochures were mailed the first week of August, but here are the basics: The plan includes both Volume54, No. 36
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a renovation of Town Hall and construction of a new 33,177-square-foot Mortensen Community Center on 1.6 acres of nearby Mill Pond Park, along Willard Avenue. It will be funded by bonds through the town’s Capital Improvement Plan and debt service. Town officials do not expect it to increase property taxes. The new Community Center would be constructed first, Above and below, architect’s rendering of the atrium and parking lot proposed for the new Town Hall. between mid-2015 and mid2016, followed by the renovation of Town Hall, between mid-2016 and mid-2018. This schedule would allow current recreational programs and town business to continue undisrupted during construction. The redesign of Town Hall would feature a central atrium and courtyard and expanded office, public and storage space. In addiSee VOTERS, Page 9
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