The Danbury Career Academy has a new potential home. After negotiations fell through at the Summit, the former Matrix Center, Danbury received a call from Mel Powers about locating to the Cartus building, also on the west side.
Cartus plans to move out of the building as most employees have been working from home through the pandemic. Cartus issued a statement saying that in light of its continued hybrid work set-up, it would upgrade its global headquarters, which has been based in Danbury for the past three decades, and transition to a new space.
The City Council will be asked to study the proposal at their meeting tonight, with a special meeting also planned for Thursday. As of yesterday, no dollar amount for the purchase and retrofit had been determined.
Plans call for the academy to serve about 1,400 middle and high school students, and open in the fall of 2024. The break down would be 1,100 high schoolers and 360 middle schoolers. The building has 1,600 parking spots, a cafeteria and a gym. Initial floor plans for the 270,000 square-foot building were finished Saturday and include layouts for a four-floor, academy with a greenhouse, auditorium, and school board administration offices.
When plans were on track to open in 3 pods of the Summit, costs increased from the initial $99 million estimate to $144.5 million. The state agreed to cover 80 percent of eligible costs on the original figure.
