More to be added to Norwich building project

NORWICH – With the undertaking of a $35 million building project, there are certain mandates required by the state Department of Education that need to be followed – one being a certain percentage of money is set aside for unforeseen expenditures.

Upon final approval of the project that aims to remodel and upgrade the Norwich City School District’s facilities, a contingency fund was built containing roughly $3 million for additional expenses or incidentals.

“We are required to have this set aside for expenditures that we did not originally plan on having,” said District Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan.

As the project moves into the last phases of construction, O’Sullivan said there is money left in the contingency fund and additional projects may be included in the capital plan.

“We will be able to include some of the more nonessential items originally identified,” he said.

Although the superintendent does not have an exact figure available for the amount left in the account, he said there is a good amount there to begin looking at other areas that need work. “This is not extra money; it is money that has not been used yet,” he said.