Waterford — Noted for its architectural significance and its importance to past pupils, the vacant Cohanzie Elementary School on Dayton Road is now a flashpoint for the town.

The now-defunct school has become steeped in controversy over development proposals that didn't become reality with no solid plans on the horizon.

So just what is the Cohanzie School? And how did it get to where it is today? 

Cohanzie was once a two-room schoolhouse called the "Peter Baker School," but in 1923, as part of a school consolidation movement, the new Cohanzie opened. The town constructed  additions in 1956 and 1972 as the town's population swelled from 4,740 to 17,900 people in the period from 1930 to 1990.

A 2013 report on the school prepared by Municipal Historian Robert Nye refers to Cohanzie as "a two-story, flat-roofed brick building, Neoclassical in style, with a shallow u-shaped plan and center entrance." He recognized the beauty of the design.

"In spite of the replacement front doors there is clearly an element of grandness about the entryway...," Nye wrote. "Classic symmetry, simple elegance, the building speaks to a higher civic purpose."

Nye's efforts to document the history of Cohanzie are a major reason much is known about it 11 years after it closed. It was Nye who successfully applied for the school to be listed on the State Register of Historic Places.

Finishing Cohanzie in 1923 was a monumental achievement for the rural town. Cohanzie was then the third consolidated school in Waterford's public school system after the town had committed to consolidation 12 years before. Quaker Hill served the north end of town, Jordan the south, and Cohanzie was central, encompassing the Lakes Pond, East Lake, Gilead and Cohanzie districts.

Getting the school built, though, was not easy — The Day described debate for allocation of funds to build as "acrimonious in spots." The ultimate decision to fund construction in 1923 came in a room of more than 250 people who had come despite a storm of sleet and rain, reminiscent of the October night in 2019 where in the midst of driving rain and strong public pressure, the Planning and Zoning Commission denied a proposal to build a multifamily housing complex on the site of the now closed school.

Empty classrooms

Cohanzie closed in 2008 for the same reason it opened: school consolidation. The town's five elementary schools were reduced to three due to declining enrollment and rising operational costs. The town had planned to demolish the school thinking that would make the property more attractive to investors.

In late 2012, Cohanzie was officially slated for demolition, although that never happened. The report Nye wrote on Cohanzie was part of a State Historic Preservation Office-mandated process to document the school's history before it could be demolished.

Waterford native Kathleen Reagan wrote to former First Selectman Daniel Steward at the time imploring the town not to demolish Cohanzie. She describes how when residents meet, conversation turns to where they attended school.

"Life goes on, and things change, but many of us are still in this area, and I must tell you, it is heartbreaking, always has been, to think of our beloved school being torn down!" Reagan wrote. "It is an important part of the fabric of our Waterford community, and it seems incredible that no use for this building can be found!"

Reagan was later part of an effort to save the building.

Steward was a Cohanzie graduate but at one point was in favor of demolishing the building.

"I don't see it as historical architecture," Steward said in 2012. "Architecturally, it isn't anything spectacular."

Multiple housing proposals as well as town applications for state grants to pay for the  demolition and construction costs have been unsuccessful since 2008. With the help of a grant from the state Department of Economic and Community Development, the town eventually decided to demolish Cohanzie's added wings in 2015, but kept the original 1923 portion intact. The town and state have now spent more than $900,000 on the 10.6-acre site for redevelopment and remediation.

Developer Harold Foley's offer, declined this year, was for a multifamily housing complex of 40 units on the site and renovating the school building into a community center. Cohanzie neighborhood residents vociferously protested the plan, arguing, as the Planning and Zoning Commission eventually did, that the development would alter the character of the community.

Shawn Monahan, who lives on Dayton Road and was a leader of opposition to the housing, said he thought property values would decrease if the apartments were built. And Cohanzie Fire Chief Todd Branche said the housing wouldn't make sense in the neighborhood.

Nye was the lone voice in support of the housing complex at the hearing, in large part because he felt the proposal was the best chance to save the school building.

"I urge you to support this application primarily because it addresses an important need," Nye told the Planning and Zoning Commission in October. "But should it fail, a symbol of Cohanzie pride and one of Waterford's most historically significant buildings is as good as gone. There will not be another opportunity."

Nye was booed and told to "go home" upon completion of his testimony. Steward later called the dozens of people against the multifamily housing development, which he supported, a "mob."

Whether through nostalgia, governmental inaction, cost, or some combination of the three, the original 1923 Cohanzie school still stands and has been vandalized. The question now, and of the past 11 years, is what to do with it. 

s.spinella@theday.com