www.southingtoncitizen.com
Volume 19, Number 34
Southington leaders work to save state $1M library grant
Blood drive to support girl with rare genetic condition
By Jesse Buchanan Record-Journal staff
SOUTHINGTON — Town leaders are hoping to salvage a $1 million state grant for a new library which could mean withdrawing Southington’s grant application and trying again later.
By Nicole Zappone The Citizen
Berlin High School is hosting a blood drive in support of young Plainville resident Daniela Ciriello, who was born with a rare genetic blood disease called Beta Thalassemia, or Cooley’s Anemia. The blood drive will be held Saturday, Aug. 27, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and is sponsored by the Berlin Lions Club and the Berlin Upbeat Program. See Blood drive, A2
Daniela Ciriello.
Golf outing will honor Plainville boy By Nicole Zappone The Citizen
To mark Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, each September, Lyman Orchards Golf Club in Middlefield hosts an outing benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, while highlighting a local child who has battled the disease.
251050
Joseph Balducci
Friday, August 26, 2022
This year, Lyman Orchards will honor the memory of Joseph Balducci,
who succumbed to leukemia on Aug. 15, 2021. Joseph, a Plainville resident, was just 2 years old.
The 14th annual golf outing will be held Saturday, Sept. 10, on Lyman Orchards' Player course. “My husband and I are honored that our Joey was chosen as the honoree for such an amazing event,” Arielle Balducci said.
While the town had intended to build a 30,000 square foot library for $17 million, town leaders say inflation and rising construction costs will make that impossible. If the plan is reduced in size to a more affordable 24,000 square feet, the State Library Board will no longer award the grant. The $17 million was approved by voters in a November referendum.
The grant would offset town spending, not increase the total amount spent on a new library. Jim Morelli, library building committee chairman, hopes state leaders will understand the town’s predicament. He’s hoping a phone meeting in early September will help convince state officials to award the grant anyway, but added state library officials haven’t seemed willing to budge. Dawn LaValle, who oversees library construction grants for the State Library Board, said Southington hasn’t provided a status update recently. See Library, A2
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See Golf, A3
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