Nathaniel Ely News Today

Columbus Magnet School. NORWALK, Conn. — The City is going through a land acquisition process for a 12-acre plot in South Norwalk, a potential location for two new schools, Norwalk Superintendent of Schools Alexandra Estrella said Wednesday. A parcel is needed because the community rejected the idea of two schools on the existing Columbus Magnet School site, Estrella said at a public forum. She also explained, to Columbus Magnet School Principal Medard Thomas, that two schools could occupy o...

This Meadow Street wall could be the site of public art, under the Martin Luther King Corridor Initiative. NORWALK, Conn. — It’s possible that some of the $3 million awarded to Norwalk through the Martin Luther King Corridor Initiative will go to creating public WiFi for the area; an education hub might also be created in a city building. Another idea is to camouflage the Ely Avenue chain link fence that keeps people away from the train tracks, to hide the garage that collects where it’s ...

A PowerPoint slide shown to the Norwalk Zoning Commission on Wednesday by Mike Mahoney of Musco Lighting. NORWALK, Conn. — The City is free to begin construction on a new softball field at Brien McMahon High School, even if neighbors are not persuaded that the lights won’t be shining into their homes. “This is a beautiful street, a beautiful community. And it’s going to be destroyed by that dome of light that is going to sit there,” James Wehrle said Wednesday, unsuccessfully trying t...

Demographer Mike Zuba presents enrollment projections during Tuesday’s Norwalk Board of Education meeting on Zoom. NORWALK, Conn. — Norwalk is prepared to move forward with its huge investment in school construction, including building two South Norwalk schools on the same property, Mayor Harry Rilling said Tuesday, indicating through his statements that their location won’t necessarily be where Columbus Magnet School is now. Rilling’s comments followed a lengthy discussion of a demogra...

The new Norwalk High School will likely be built where the softball field is now, project manager Jim Guiliano said in 2020. That may change. NORWALK, Conn. — Two new schools got nods of approval Tuesday evening, one with financial support and the other with words of endorsement. The Common Council green-lighted a $6 million-plus contract with an architectural firm to design a new Norwalk High School, on a 13-1-0 vote. Recognizing an equity issue, multiple Council members expressed a desire t...

Zoning Commission Chairman Lou Schulman questions the lighting plan for the Brien MccMahon High School softball field, shown in a photo rendering by Stantec. NORWALK, Conn. — Somehow, the discussion stemming from years of parental public pleading for an state-of-the-art girls softball field at Brien McMahon High School did not reach the people who would be most affected by the sought-after changes, the people who live across the street. The Norwalk Zoning Commission has therefore delayed its ...

Jana Silsby of DLR Group presents a new plan for the Columbus School site at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting. A new school is shown in white and the existing building is grey. Connecting the two would allow them to share public spaces. NORWALK, Conn. — A radically different concept for South Norwalk school construction was unveiled Tuesday by Norwalk Superintendent of Schools Alexandra Estrella. This might mean sending a new application to the State by June 30. Two schools would be squ...

Planning Commission Chairwoman Frances DiMeglio concludes the Commission’s recent capital budget decision-making session. NORWALK, Conn. — Norwalk Planning Commissioners have pressured Mayor Harry Rilling to spend more capital budget dollars on Norwalk Public Schools than his Chief Financial Officer thinks wise. The Planning Commission’s recommended capital budget is nearly $3 million higher than the austere recommendation from CFO Henry Dachowitz, a 10% increase would allow Rilling to fu...

NORWALK, Conn. — A roundup of news from Tuesday’s Common Council Public Works Committee meeting: A new study, tuned to making Norwalk more walkable NRVT trail segment construction imminent, should be done this year Flood-prevention efforts said to be success An agreement to keep coal ash capped Dumped waste cleaned up fast Is garbage spying on you? Carr says stats show pandemic is easing Transportation management plan: ‘a little bit more on mobility for everyone’ “You’ll recall but ...