Danbury’s New Career Academy at the Summit Could Be In Jeopardy

Danbury Mayor Dean Esposito recently sat down with the developers of the Summit regarding the Career Academy project which is projected to cost $144.5 million.

That meeting took a turn for the worse when the Mayor stopped the negotiations. According to NH Register, Esposito explained that the terms were unacceptable.

So, what went wrong? The price skyrocketed 46 percent to $144.5 million; that's what went wrong. Nevertheless, both the Mayor and Summit's project manager, Mike Basile, have high hopes that a deal can be worked out.

Even though the Summit and Danbury officials are hopeful that a mutual agreement can be reached, Esposito and the Danbury school district leadership are exploring alternative construction locations.

A couple of weeks back, all parties had agreed on a mutual course of action or, as Esposito stated, "It was an agreement that we both liked, the price was right, and the terms were right." But when they sat down again this past Tuesday, the terms and the price of the agreement had changed, and that's when the Mayor decided to put a halt to the negotiations.

The bottom line is the 46 percent increase in the project's cost due to external factors such as inflation, supply chain, and construction costs. Esposito said they were exploring two other options that removed the Summit from the equation, including building the academy on city-owned property.

The Summit and Danbury officials are meeting again today (Thursday, Feb. 3) to reopen negotiations hoping they can reach an agreement. This is still a developing story.