City of Ridgefield, school district now headquartered in one building

Ridgefield city and school district offices are now completely moved into the former View Ridge Middle School as city departments filled their offices earlier this month.

The Ridgefield Administration and Civic Center, known as the RACC, was fully-functioning last week as the first Ridgefield City Council meeting was hosted Feb. 14 in new meeting space, dubbed the Columbia Assembly Room. The previous week the Ridgefield Community Development Department moved into their offices alongside city public works administration and offices for budget and finance.

Ridgefield City Manager Steve Stuart said the goal was to have their office space as a business services center, featuring the staff and resources a business owner would need when working in Ridgefield. 

“Once we figured out that we wanted this to be a business center and really focused on our business clients, then that gave us a better understanding of not only who would be here, but where and how we would organize this space,” Stuart said. For citizens doing things like paying utility bills, city hall will still be their main point of contact.

The city is leasing space from the Ridgefield School District at the RACC as part of a partnership between the two entities. On the school’s side, several district departments are headquartered there, including the offices of the superintendent and assistant superintendent, professional development, the finance department, communications, technology, and special education — essentially every central district service with the exception of maintenance, district superintendent Nathan McCann said.

The school district started moving over the Christmas holiday and into January, McCann said. The total renovation cost was shy of $7.6 million, including $2.5 million coming from the city during part of their 30-year lease. 

According to information from the city, they paid $750,000 up front by the end of last year and will pay roughly $115,000 annually until that $2.5 million is met. Stuart said that the majority of funding for their portion of the renovation and maintenance would come from the city’s building fund, money earmarked for projects such as the RACC.

All the funding from the school came from the 2017 capital bond that also built the new 5-8 grade complex, McCann explained. In order to get state funding, the district could not use the View Ridge building for K-12 education during school hours, necessitating a shift toward how the space looks now.

Outside of the school district and city, the space also includes several other agencies: Ridgefield Community Education, Ridgefield Main Street, Ridgefield Chamber of Commerce, Ridgefield Family Resource Center, Ridgefield Art Association, Ridgefield Public Schools Foundation, and Killa Bites, a bakery.

The city moved out all of their offices formerly in their Third Avenue building to the RACC, a necessary shift given the state of the old facility. Stuart explained the old spot had a narrow hallway, congested office space and a pervading odor of mold that made it not conducive to doing business.

“The building is getting knocked down, and for good reason,” Stuart remarked about the old space. 

For the offices at the RACC, Stuart said they were focused on an “open concept” space in part to foster better communication and collaboration between departments. Outside of business services, the RACC also has community space including the Columbia Assembly Room which is used for both city and school district meetings.

The goal of the RACC is wrapped up in its name, providing space for administration and civic, community options in the city.

“The RACC really does provide that option, not only for the city as an organization but the city as a whole,” Stuart said.

From the school district’s side, having a central location for its core departments was a boon to its efficiency. McCann said that the technology department had moved at least three times during his tenure, but in the RACC the department will have space to grow and stay put for years.

“When technology moves it’s really tricky because everything else in the district has to stop, or they have to do it in components or pieces,” McCann said.

Outside of the building, McCann noted the creation of a gate-free municipal parking lot that could prove useful for people coming downtown for community events. Compared to what View Ridge was prior, he explained that the renovation revitalized what might have been a piece of real estate that didn’t have much value on the market to sell.

“However as a community asset I think it has that kind of value,” McCann said.