A State of the City Address has been delivered by Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton. He told business leaders yesterday that Danbury is growing and adding jobs. Boughton touted the completion of some major projects including the Army Reserve Center, West Conn's Performing Arts Center and the Danbury Hospital expansion.
Naugatuck Valley Community College will be expanding its Advanced Manufacturing Technology Certificate program at Henry Abbott Tech, through an evening program. Boughton says he would like to create a similar program with Danbury High School, giving students real world experience through internships with local companies. An associates degree and a high school diploma could be earned at the same time.
He also unveiled two new initiatives, one called the DHS2020 plan. It's a 110,000 square foot addition off the back of the High School for a Freshman Academy. The roof will be replaced and outfitted with solar panels. The bottom floor of the building will be a new gym and locker room complex, the cafeteria will be enclosed to accommodate separate dining for the 9th grade. The front of DHS would be redesigned to accommodate security needs and create a new school store for the marketing students.
The auto shop which sits outside the main building will be redesigned as a venue to accommodate both visual arts and performing arts. Boughton says this will make it so the entire building won't have to be opened up for a performance.
The other initiative has been dubbed ConnectHatCity. Boughton wants to convert street lights to LEDs. During the replacement, technology would be installed to create free wifi zones for access by students at Naugatuck Valley Community College and WestConn, library patrons and downtown business.
During his address, Boughton also discussed the City's efforts to revitalize downtown. A full time Main Street Enforcement Officer for the Unified Neighborhood Taskforce has been hired to focus in on quality of life issues and police foot patrols have been brought back to Main Street on a permanent basis to provide a security presence. He also touted completion of the innovation center--attached to the Library, which hosts a business mentoring center staffed by SCORE.
Greystar started construction of 347 luxury apartment units on the Kennedy Avenue site. The developer believes that they will be ready for occupancy by 2016.
