HARTFORD — Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury will receive a financial hand from the state to help with renovations of Founders Hall.
The state Bond Commission is expected to approve a $4.47 million grant to underwrite the design and engineering phase of the renovations when its meets Friday. The General Assembly originally authorized this bonding in 2009. The renovations will overhaul the 97,000-square-foot building into an Allied Health and Nursing Center.
The imminent release of the funds was welcomed news to state senators Joan Hartley (D-15) and Joseph J. Crisco, Jr. (D-17).
“The planned expansion of training opportunities at Naugatuck Valley Community College for careers in healthcare require extensive physical changes on campus so that students preparing for nursing positions or other jobs in the medical field are trained in a 21st setting for 21st-century careers,” Hartley said in a prepared release. “These state funds will make Founder’s Hall a state-of-the-art teaching and training facility to help address our state’s chronic nursing shortage and other career opportunities in the dynamic field of healthcare.”
Crisco added that another benefit from the state’s investment will be job creation.
“Another added bonus of this state investment in Naugatuck Valley Community College is its potential to generate local jobs for the duration of these on-campus improvements,” Crisco said in a prepared release. “In addition to the many residents of the Naugatuck Valley I represent who attend or teach classes at NVCC there will now be many others who will benefit from the architectural, engineering, and construction jobs to be created, and beyond that, from the overall increase in economic activity in and around Waterbury.”
