WEST HARTFORD -- A standing-room-only crowd attended a public hearing on whether the town of West Hartford should buy the parcel of land currently occupied by UConn's West Hartford campus. The land will soon be vacated as the campus moves to Downtown Hartford.
The town has right of first refusal for the piece of land and is currently debating whether or not to purchase it for around $12.6 million. If the town doesn't act, another interested buyer, the Weiming Education Group in China, expressed its intent to purchase the land and setup a for-profit secondary school. The school would be intended to serve American, Asian, European and South American students.
The school could generate more than $500,000 in extra tax revenue for the town, and school district leaders claimed it would raise the international educational profile for West Hartford Public Schools.
UConn is leaving the 58-acre, five-building campus located near the intersection of Asylum Avenue and Trout Brook Drive in the fall of 2017 to move to a downtown Hartford location currently being built.
Town officials explored other options for the property such as offices, housing developments, apartments, or park land. Officials say no options proved feasible economically.
"Generally speaking I think the more diversity we can introduce to our students, the better off they are," said Jeffrey Smith of West Hartford.
Overall, neighbors say they left the public hearing feeling like more information was needed, and urged town leaders to use caution.
"When a private company wishes to buy that piece of land then I also have red flags that go up because someone is going to try and make dollars off it. It goes without saying that you don't put out that kind of money without something coming back," said David Kaplan of West Hartford.
The town had 45 days to notify UConn if it still plans to buy the property, but that deadline has been extended to June 17.