Two developments Monday should encourage the
Chelsea Community Development Group and all those who hope to see
Three Rivers Community College consolidated in downtown Norwich.
State Sen. Edith Prague, who represents Norwich, wrote Gov. John
Rowland urging him to continue his commitment to revitalizing
Connecticut cities by relocating the college downtown.
Prague joins state Reps. Jack Malone and Peter Nystrom in
supporting a downtown campus.
And, as Prague made her position known, the state Board of
Trustees of Community Colleges voted unanimously to evaluate the
proposal of the Chelsea group.
State law prohibits the board from examining proposals from
private developers, so the board called on the state Department of
Public Works to gather the information from the Chelsea group by
Oct. 1. Once data is filtered through the DPW, the board can review
it.
The board also wants the DPW to hire an independent consultant to
evaluate that proposal by Dec. 31. That would be in keeping with the
independent evaluations of the three other proposed sites done by
DuBose Associates. The downtown proposal was not on the table when
DuBose was hired.
While these developments are encouraging, the word from the
governor's office Friday is perplexing.
Rowland said he wanted to "let this simmer a little bit and see
what other possibilities are out there. ... This is very early in
the process."
Simmer? Other possibilities? Early in the process?
The issue of consolidating Three Rivers dates to 1987. In 1995,
Rowland suggested relocating the college to the former Norwich
Hospital campus, a site no longer under consideration. Since then,
four sites have been identified as suitable. The issue for most
people hereabouts boils down to this: Which of the four sites is
best?
Given that the issue was first raised during the administration
of Gov. William O'Neill, 14 years should be time enough for such a
topic to "simmer." The whole process of relocating Capital Community
College into the former G. Fox building in downtown Hartford took
all of three years.
Four locations have been identified as suitable for the college.
They are urban, the downtown proposal; neighborhoods, at the
existing campuses on Mahan Drive and New London Turnpike in Norwich;
and rural, on land adjacent to the former hospital in Preston.
Relocating the college will cost a ton of money, from $61.5
million to $86 million. Exactly where to spend that kind of cash
just might be a question best answered during an election year.
So let's be heartened at Prague's letter and the board's
decision. And let's not lose sight of the fact that John Rowland,
while our governor, also is a politician.
