$5.1 Million Approved For Fairfield To Buy 12-Acre Southport Site

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield’s plan to buy a 12-acre property in Southport is moving forward, as three town bodies voted Monday to set aside more than $5 million for the purchase and initial site improvements.

The property at 309 Barberry Road was formerly home to Giant Steps School. The town intends to turn it into the new location of the Water Fitzgerald Campus alternative high school, although much of the site would remain available for a range of other possible uses.

The Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance and Representative Town Meeting all approved the issuance of $5.1 million in 20-year bonds to fund the endeavor.

“I think the price is just right for almost 12 acres right in the heart of Southport,” First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick said to town meeting members when the body’s joint committee discussed the purchase Thursday.

Giant Steps was a school for people with learning and developmental disorders that operated for nearly 30 years before it was shuttered over the summer, with officials citing difficulties related to the coronavirus pandemic as the reason for the closure.

The property includes the roughly 18,000-square-foot building where Giant Steps was located, which will become Walter Fitzgerald’s new facility, as well as a second structure that is nearly 24,000 square feet but has been vacant for decades.

The town may knock down the long-empty building or reconstruct its roof, Kupchick said. The structure could be used for public works, education and summer camps, or it could be turned into a field, according to Kupchick. If the town demolishes the existing structure, it could be replaced with “quite a sizable building” without the town infringing on the property setbacks, according to Angelus Papageorge, executive director of operations for Fairfield Public Schools.

A few town meeting members expressed concern about traffic and costs associated with Fairfield's acquisition of the property, but Kupchick and town attorney Jim Baldwin were adamant that any ideas for town use of the site were speculative and would be priced out in advance.

“The future use of the other part of the property is to be determined and fully vetted by town bodies,” Baldwin said.

The Walter Fitzgerald Campus is currently located in a building at 108 Biro St., which is owned by the Diocese of Bridgeport, costs the Fairfield school district $110,250 per year in rent, and is in need of extensive maintenance. The diocese plans to sell the Biro Street facility and does not intend to invest in it further.

“It would have cost us more than this to purchase the property that alternative high school is on right now,” Kupchick told the town meeting, after referring to the Giant Steps site as a “turnkey operation.” “This is a much better acquisition and a much more cost-effective acquisition.”

Officials hope to buy the property and complete any needed improvements by the end of summer 2021, in time for the new school year.