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The Southington Citizen — Friday, June 21, 2013
$500,000 coming for Gura building “Even in this challenging economy, it is important to support the arts. They not only enrich us culturally, but they are good for local businesses,” Aresimowicz said. “The arts center will attract visitors from around the state, which in turn helps our local economy.” The Southington Community Cultural Arts Committee, the group that wants to renovate the Gura building, must raise $1.36 million - 80 percent of the total cost of the work, expected to be $1.71 million - by the end of July 2014, according to its agreement with the Town Council. If it succeeds in do-
By Savannah Mul Special to The Citizen
The State Bond Commission is expected to approve $500,000 to help transform the Gura building into the Community Cultural Arts Center. House Majority Leader Joseph Aresimowicz, a Democrat whose district includes Southington, announced Friday, June 14 that the money was put on the bond commission’s agenda for its meeting this week. Money for projects that make it onto the commission’s agenda is almost always approved.
ing that, the town will lease the building to the arts group for $1 a year, and renovations can begin. The Gura building, next to Town Hall on Main Street, formerly housed some town departments but has been mostly empty since they moved to the Municipal Center on North Main Street in July 2012. It is being used now for storage. “I knew (Aresimowicz) was pledging to have this passed from the beginning,” Town Councilor Chris Palmieri said. “I’m glad he was able to push for this and generate support from the state.”
Palmieri added that having an arts center in the community will make the town stronger. “It really is a true investment to the value and work in having a cultural arts center in a viable location of downtown Southington,” said Dawn Miceli, a town councilor and a member of the arts committee. “It’s all very exciting.” “We are just astounded,” said Mary DeCroce, the leader of the Southington Community Cultural Arts Committee. “We asked the state to give us $257,000 and they doubled that amount. We are just beside our-
selves.” DeCroce also expects up to $325,000 to come from a historical preservation tax credit. The Gura building has been deemed a historical structure. DeCroce said she is confident her group can raise the needed funds. Carole Milano, the president of the Southington Arts Council - which is not affiliated with the cultural arts committee - said she couldn’t be happier about the news. “It’s great what they will be able to do. I always said if it’s meant to be, it will be,” Milano said.
High cost of living chokes income growth in state an average of 2.7 percent in 2011. The growth rates reflect year-over-year changes in income adjusted by the change in spending. In 2011, the BridgeportStamford-Norwalk metro area posted the highest price parity, which is the measure of differences in prices of goods and services. Connecticut was seventh among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., in price parity. Hawaii, New York, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Maryland and California were higher.
By Stephen Singer Associated Press
Personal income for Connecticut residents rose a weak 2.2 percent in 2011, lower than the rest of the United States, according to federal data released June 12. The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis laid part of the blame on Connecticut’s high cost of living that reduces purchasing power. Real personal income in the United States increased
Music on the Green The 20th Annual “Music on the Green” Concert Series, sponsored by the Parks & Recreation Department, takes place Wednesday evenings through Aug. 28 (Thursdays, if it rains) at the Southington Town Green, Main Street (Route 10). This is free live music and weekly car shows. For more information, call (860) 276-6219 or visit www.southington.org.
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The rise in personal income in Connecticut in 2011 was lower than the 3.6 percent growth posted the previous year. In contrast, personal income growth nationally increased from 2010 to 2011. New Haven economist Don Klepper-Smith said the data show why many people still struggle even in an improving economy. “This lies at the core of why nearly half of all Americans are not seeing an economic recovery as they understand it,” he said. “In this recovery, after the bills are paid, after the taxes are paid,
there ain’t a lot left over. It’s the extra dinner out, maybe the long weekend on the Cape.” Daniel Kennedy, an economist at the state Department of Labor, said the federal statistics did not surprise him because job growth in Connecticut has been slowing. “Connecticut is the laggard,” he said. The state’s weak spots are the finance sector and its geographic proximity to New York’s Wall Street, which was hit hard by the recession and weak recovery, and government, which cut jobs in schools and local govern-
ment. The loss of federal stimulus spending also had an impact on government spending, Kennedy said. In addition, the state’s two Indian-run casinos, which have posted steadily declining revenue, also are counted as local government. “Finance and government seem to be what’s driving Connecticut down,” he said. The federal statistics follow by less than a week a batch of other numbers released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis showing that Connecticut was alone among the 50 states with a shrinking economy in 2012.
Intern
Lafranco said he learned how to fix cracks in doors, paint vehicles, perform bonding jobs, and more. “I learned a lot from this guy,” said Lafranco, pointing to Bill Badgley, the owner of the auto shop. Bayley Shean, a senior, had her internship at Ames & Whitaker Architects in Southington. Shean wants to be an interior designer. “Even though I’m majoring in interior design, it really helps seeing the big picture in what goes into the project,’’ Shean said. Shean learned how to read blueprints, shadowed architects, and was able to go to sites to help measure for window sills.
Meg Gallagher, a senior, interned at Plantsville Funeral Home because she wants to be an embalmer. “It’s a little frightening,” Gallagher said, laughing, “but an excellent way of knowing that this is what I can do and what I would want to do for the rest of my life.’’ While some students found that they loved their jobs, others found that it wasn’t the right fit for them. But even that is a positive, Allard said. “I’m very excited about the growth of this program,” said Martin Semmel, the high school principal. “... Maybe we can go to 75 (students) next year.”
Continued from page 45 them and their personalities to find the right spot for the students. She was pleased with the response from businesses eager to have the students intern. “No one said no,” Allard said. “And I thank you very much.” Allard would go to the job sites and take photos of the students working. She mentioned visiting Corey Lafranco, a senior, at Bill’s Auto Body Clinic in Southington. “I saw Corey elbow-deep in a car engine,” Allard said. “What would we do without a mechanic? We would be lost; I know I would.”