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Here is the early history of what is now Hillside Place at New Britain Condominium Association, Inc.

There are five sections:
    State Normal School In Educational History (beginning in 1837);
    State Normal School in Architectural History (beginning in 1882);
    New Britain School Administration Building (beginning in 1925);
    Walnut Hill Historic Landmark District (beginning in 1974); and
    Sale of 27 Hillside Place To Be Condominiums (beginning in 1985).

The photographs below are recently taken and reveal the original building elements.


State Normal School In Educational History

With the "Age of the Common Man," the Industrial Revolution, and the new humanitarian attitude throughout the nation and overseas, the nineteenth century was a period when improvement in education was emphasized. In Connecticut this trend culminated in establishing a state school system and in professionalizing the teaching field through formal training in normal schools. (Leslie P. Ricklin, “Education in Connecticut,” Connecticut’s Heritage Gateway, 2003)

1837
As a delegate to the Connecticut General Assembly, Henry Barnard introduces the first legislation to establish free education and created the Connecticut Board of Common Schools.

1837

A Board of Education was established that year [1837] in Massachusetts and [Horace Mann] was made the Secretary. A great convention was held Sept. 3, 1838, at Hanover, Mass. Horace Mann presided, and among those on the platform with the great educator were Daniel Webster and John Quincy Adams, the last named then seventy-one years old, and George B. Emerson. [Emerson directed a secondary school for young women in Boston for 32 years.] (The New York Times, August 4, 1890)

1839 - 1849

From 1839 to 1849 Barnard organized various teachers' institutes around the state to provide training for teachers in the common schools. Even though attendance at the institutes increased and teachers supported Barnard's scheme to establish a normal school, the General Assembly was skeptical as to both the need for better trained teachers and the expense involved. (Leslie P. Ricklin, “Education in Connecticut," Connecticut’s Heritage Gateway, 2003) Click here to see the full article.

1849

Connecticut General Assembly passes the Normal School Act. It was not until the example of state-supported normal schools in Massachusetts under educator Horace Mann (1796-1859) and in New York that the General Assembly finally responded to public pressure and passed the Normal School Act in 1849. Four important aspects of the legislation for Connecticut's future educational development were: that teachers would be trained only for the common schools; that a Board of Trustees would be selected to choose a site and apply for funds; that the sum of $11,000 would be appropriated for a building; and that the 220 students were to be admitted with equal representation of the sexes. Henry Barnard was appointed the first principal and the site ultimately chosen was New Britain [because of its central location and access to transportation]. The school opened in 1850. (Leslie P. Ricklin, “Education in Connecticut,” Connecticut’s Heritage Gateway, 2003) Click here to see the full article.

[According to Henry Bernard, teachers’] wages must be elevated considerably and a teacher-training institute should be established. A year later, Bernard added the need to standardize textbooks, fix up the school buildings, motivate and compel regular attendance, do away with rate bills, and provide more and better apparatus like globes and blackboards. These objectives would remain the focus of Bernard’s talents, intellect, time and energy for the rest of his life. Christopher Collier, Connecticut’s Public Schools: A History, 1650—2000, Orange, Connecticut: Clearwater Press, 2009, p. 79. Reprinted by permission of Christopher Collier.

1849

New Britain Normal School established. This was the first school in Connecticut (and sixth in the nation) to specialize in teacher education.

1850

Henry Barnard becomes Connecticut's superintendent of schools and principal of the New Britain Normal School.

For an in-depth review of education in Connecticut in the 1800s and Henry Barnard’s role in it. (Christopher Collier, "Chapter IV Henry Barnard and Frustrated School Reform," Connecticut’s Pubic Schools: A History, 1650-2000, Orange, Connecticut: Clearwater Press, 2009,reprinted by permission of Christopher Collier, click here.

1855

Henry Barnard created and edited the American Journal of Education, until his retirement in 1880.

1867

Henry Barnard was named the first United States commissioner of education.

1870

Walnut Hill Park was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, who also designed New York City’s Central Park and Boston’s Common. Hillside Place is on the hillside east of Walnut Hill Park.

1881

Board of Commissioners for the Erection of a New Normal School at New Britain, Connecticut, appointed by Governor Bigelow (March 23).

1881

The General Assembly appropriates $75,000. “to procure plans, obtain a site, and erect a new building for use of the State Normal School in New Britain.” (January)

1881

The town of New Britain appropriates $25,000  to add to the State appropriation. (January)

1881

Selection of site for new Normal School at New Britain, approved by the State Board of Education, and purchased from Prof. R. G. Hibbard for $18,000. (July)

The question where in New Britain the building should be located was not answered without difficulty, owing to the various State, town, and individual interests to be considered . . . . The site selected is a commanding one, overlooking the city, yet easily accessible from cars [meaning rail cars], hotels, and the business part of the city, while from the north, east, and south parts of the building a delightful view extends for miles in every direction. (The Report of the Commissioners for the Erection of a New Normal School Building, Printed by Order of the General Assembly, State of Connecticut, Hartford, Conn., 1883, p. 4)  Click here to see The Report.  This Report also contains floor plans of the building, with labels of  school usage.

See also: entry under 1882-84, below.


Normal School In Architectural History

1882

The plans submitted by Warren R. Briggs, Esq. of Bridgeport, though requiring several important modifications from the plans as first presented, met the approval of the State Board of Education, and were adopted by the committee.”  Briggs was paid a total of  $5,000.   Click here for  "Briggs  and other New England Architects".

1882

Suburban School-Houses,” by Warren R. Briggs.
Click here to see article in First Annual Report of the State Board of Health of the State of New Hampshire, For The Fiscal Year Ending April 30, 1882. . . . Parsons B. Cogswell, State Printer, Concord, New Hanpshire.
Click here to see historical background in "Buildings," in Christopher Collier, Connecticut Public Schools: A History, 1650-2000, pp. 69-71,Orange, Connecticut: Clearwater Press, 2009, reprinted by permission of Christopher Collier.

1882-84

Construction of new Normal School at New Britain. (March to December)
It is three stories high and has a tower and belfry which overlook Walnut Hill Park.  The building stands on a high location and can be seen from Hartford and as far away as Mount Holyoke, Massachusetts.  New Britain Herald, March 28, 1882.  Quoted from Mattie Graham, History of New Britain Normal School: Now Teachers College of Connecticut. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Department of Education, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, 1935, p. 78.

1883

State Normal School at New Britain opens.
Click here for The State Normal School As Architecture.
Also, click here for a detailed recollection of the early years at the New Britain Normal School, written by Oliver Wiard, a student in the first kindergarten class.  

1883

Up to 1883 the Normal School students had no actual practice in teaching provided by the School.  They were given lectures on the theory of the work but had no chance to work with children as the students now do in the practice schools.  Mr. Carroll, who was Principal at that time, realized there was a great need for practice schools.  Through his efforts, practice schools were provided where students could have actual contacts with children and get a chance to train in the art of teaching.  This system, which was started in New Britain, has spread all over the United States. Mattie Graham, History of New Britain Normal School: Now Teachers College of Connecticut.  Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Department of Education, Trinity College, Hartford,Connecticut, 1935, p. 80.

1884

In April, 1884, the kindergarten was opened at New Britain Normal School . . . .  The State of Connecticut was the first to admit kindergartens to the public school system.

Click here for reference, Mattie Graham, History of New Britain Normal School: Now Teachers College of Connecticut.  Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Department of Education, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, 1935, pp. 81-82

1888

New Britain, Conn. 
Kindergarten Department of Connecticut Normal and Training, Clara W. Mingus Principal,
4 Instructors, 12 Students, 12 Length of Course in Months, $50 Annual Charge for Tuition.
(In “Table 34.—Schools and Classes for Training Kindergarten Teachers for 1887-88.” Report of the Commissioner of Education Made to the Secretary of the United States Bureau of Education for the Year 1887-1888.  Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office, 1889.)

1889

Price, Lee & Co’s New Map of New Britain.  Prepared for their City Directory by A.W. Rice, New Britain Tramway Co., Corrected June-1889 by W.C. Cadwell.C.E.
Shows Normal School on extension from S.High St. and Walnut St.
This extension is narrow, perhaps a walkway, because it goes to the main entrance, the east side entrances to what are now units 3 and 4, and the south side entrance.
There is also a second narrow extension that follows on the east side the first, but only up to the point adjacent to the NE corner of the State Normal School, where the map drawing changes from solid line to dotted line. The dotted line describes a roundabout. This map shows streetcar routes of the New Britain Tramway Co.  The closest service to the Normal School was Arch Street at either Walnut Street or Grand Street. Click here to see the map.

1890

The administration and classroom building which had been erected on Walnut Hill in 1882 was outgrown before the new century began.  It had not been well-planned, and from the beginning remodeling and repairs had been necessary.  Shortly after Marcus White became principal he realized that the growing School would soon need two buildings—a well-designed main building and a dormitory for women.  Moreover, these buildings, he felt, should be located outside the congested area where there would be ample space for an attractive campus. 
(Herbert E. Fowler, A Century of Teacher Education in Connecticut: The Story of the New Britain State Normal School and the Teachers College of Connecticut, 1849-1949.  New Britain, Connecticut, Teachers College of Connecticut,  1949.)

1894

Annual Report of the Board of Education, Submitted to the Governor, February 18, 1891, Together With the Annual Report of the Secretary of the Board.  Hartford, Conn.: Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company.  1891.
Click here for the full report and go to these pages for specific references:
“Normal Schools” pp. 67-85;
New Britain, pp. 67-85;
Attendance, pp. 67-72;
Model Schools, pp. 72-73;
Kindergartens, pp. 73-74;
Buildings [including floor plans for the main building and the annex], pp. 74-85.

1895

The Price, & Lee Co’s New Map of New Britain, 1895.  Prepared for their City Directory by W.H. Cadwell, Civil Eng., The Central Railway and Electric Co.
Along with the information in the previous map, this map shows the annex, which was built in 1891.  Also shown is the Model School, where Normal School students taught, built by David Nelson Camp, principal of the Normal School, at the corner of Camp and School Streets.  There is also, west of the Normal School and east of Walnut Hill Park, a straight line running from Grand Street to West Main Street, presumably indicating the east boundary of the park.

There had been no further advance of the streetcar near the Normal School, although there had been a change in the streetcar company.

1895

Predicts Shortage of 500 Teachers,” The Hartford Courant (March 14)
Principal White of Normal School at New Britain Wants New Plant
I have a building that was built forty years ago and has not from the day of its completion been fit for teaching purposes.  It has no cellar and our winter’s coal supply has to be dumped outside.  [See Note below.]  The lighting is so bad that you have to carry a candle to find your way to some of the recitation rooms without falling upstairs.  A New Britain manufacturer told me recently, after inspecting the plant, that if he made his help work in a place like that he would be arrested and ought to be. When the girls come to New Britain they have no place to live and engage in any social life. . . . We have no land surrounding the building.  If a girl drops a piece of paper out of a window it falls on somebody else’s land.  There is no room for tennis courts or any of those things that would enable us to develop a school which Connecticut girls could honestly want to attend. . . .
Can’t Remodel Present Plant   
 Mr. White said that estimates on the improvement of the present building indicate that it would take at least $168,000 for that and another $240,000 for a dormitory.  Mr. White thought that any idea of improving the present building should be abandoned.
Click here to read the full article.
The ground floor level is about three feet below the grade-line, the window sells being above.  The hat and cloak rooms, water-closets for both sexes, janitor’s room, work room, and boiler room are all on this floor. The boiler room is sunk some eight feet below the level of the others, in order to secure a good drip for all return steam pipes; it has an entrance of its own, and ample ash and coal bins — the later so arranged that coal may be dumped directly into them from the cart. 
Click here to see the report by the Commissioners for the Erection of a New Normal School Building. Hartford, 1883, pp. 6-7.)]
Click here to also read Mattie Graham, pp. 86, 88, 90-91.

1919

Connecticut “General Assembly appropriates $95,000 to purchase a building site comprising about 25 acres in the Stanley Quarter section of the city, and to provide plans for a building.”

1920

The committee on New Britain normal school had a meeting with Mr. White following the adjournment of the State board of education on April 13 1920 and recommended . . .That a new normal school be build in New Britain on the new site . . . .  (1920.05.11 Minutes of Meeting of State Board of Education: Report of committee on New Britain normal school)

1921

N. Britain Normal School Is Unsafe.”  The Hartford Courant, March 15.)
On the ground that the present plant is inadequate, superannuated and unsafe, the state board of education is waging a campaign before the General Assembly to bring about favorable action for an appropriation with which to construct new buildings for the New Britain State Normal School. In a pamphlet issued yesterday the board charges that the present buildings would be condemned if used for factory purposes and that a new plant was needed to assure the state a sufficient number of trained teachers. . . .
The present normal school building is about 40 years old and was erected at a time when the needs of a normal school were very imperfectly known and the attendance was very small.  It is today totally inadequate for the training of teachers, being inferior in its facilities and equipment to any other normal school plant now in existence in this country. Click here to read the full article.

Click here to read  an article about the “New Normal School Is Now Necessary”

1921

[The] General Assembly appropriated $750,000 for a new classroom and administration building, and a separate heating and power plant. . . .
One of the main points brought out at the hearing was the fact that if the old Normal school on Walnut Hill in New Britain was a private corporation, it would have been closed as being unfit for a school or factory.  This decision was reached after a factory inspector had gone over the premises.  Click here to read the full article, "Many Local People at Normal School Appropriation Hearing at Capitol"  (New Britain Herald, April 29).

1921

The state board of control today authorized the state board of education to sign contracts totaling an outlay of $660,600 for the construction of the new State Normal school at New Britain as provided for by the 1921 session of the general assembly with an appropriation of $750,000.Click here to read the full article, "State Normal School Contracts Given Out" (The Hartford Courant, July 20).

1921

The Secretary reported that he had sent to Mayer O. F. Curtis of New Britain form of resolution to be acted upon by the City Council of New Britain in connection with the acceptance of the Old normal school property by the city at the terms indicated in the report of the appraisal committee.  (1921.10.05 Minutes of Meeting of State Board of Education)

1922

Construction began on Stanley campus. (July)

1924

Construction completed on Stanley campus and the State Normal School relocates to Stanley campus.


New Britain School Administration Building

1925

New Britain Board of Education and School Administration Offices relocate to Old State Normal School building.

1968

The Whitehill Report on Professional and Public Education for Historic Education, submitted April 15, 1968, to the Trustees of the National Trust for Historic Preservation,by the Committee on Professional and Public Education for Historic Preservation,Walter Muir Whitehill, Chairman, Director and Librarian of the Boston Athenaeum.
Click here to read exerpts of the Whitehill Report, points in the Report pertinent to Hillside Place Condominium, and comments.

1973

[The] School Administration. . . building has been selected by the [New Britain Arts Festival] committee as the 1973 festival landmark. . . . 
Tough entrance standards were raised student enrollment increased soon after the turn of the century, it was realized that the building on Hillside Place was no longer adequate and [principal Marcus] White began quietly exploring the possibility of a larger site, away from the central area of the city, with room for a dormitory in addition to administrative and classroom buildings. 
(New Britain Herald, April 27) Click here to see full article, "History recalled on arts festival lanmark for 1973 by Oilver Wiard."


Walnut Hill Historic Landmark District

1973

New Britain Normal School.”  Woodblock print by K.A. Larson, #213.
Click here to see this woodblock print.

Walnut Hill Historic District admitted to the National Register of Historic Places.  [The Historic District Study Committee, Kenneth A. Larson, Chairman] Today the Hillside Place building, a commandingly situated landmark. . . . Click here to see the “Walnut Hill Historic District Proposal including a map of the District, drawing of the State Normal School, and the District logo, featuring the School tower.


1975

Walnut Hill National Historic Landmark District, New Britain, Connecticut, that contains, in addition The Historic District Study Committee, Kenneth A. Larson, Chairman, 1976.

On 2 September, 1975, a singular honor was bestowed upon the City of New Britain when the Secretary of the Interior at Washington, D.C. accepted the Walnut Hill Historic District Proposal to the National Register of Historic Places, creating the Walnut Hill National Historic Landmark District. . . .  

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation's cultural resources worthy of preservation.  Consideration for acceptance is measured not only by the value that the particular building or site may have to the immediate community, but its significance nationally, also. . . .

Among the qualities considered in the designation of Walnut Hill include its significance in American history, its architectiural and cultural impact, the integrity of the district, its location, design, setting, workmanship and feeling. Further consideration included its association with persons significant in our past, and events that made valuable contributions to the broad patterns of American history. . . .

Walnut Hill, a commanding site above New Britain’s urban center plane, is adjacent to lovely Walnut Hill Park that Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvin Vaux, the nation’s foremost landscape architects, designed in the late 1860’s. . . .  Besides houses that capsulize the charm of 19th century urban America the district’s ten blocks contain outstanding public buildings, including. . . the Old Normal school whose tower is both the focal point and the symbol of Walnut Hill. . . .

Click here to view the Walnut Hill National Historic Landmark District, New Britain,  Connecticut that contains, in addition to the District logo featuring the School tower, a large drawing of the District “illustrating the view from Walnut Hill, East, about 1890.”  The most prominent feature, by far, is the Old Normal School.

1976

Walnut Hill National Historic Landmark District, New Britain, Connecticut:
 A Guide to a Walking Tour.  Written and illustrated by  Kenneth A. Larson, Chairman,
The Historic District Study Committee, City of New Britain. New Britain Chamber of Commerce, Inc.

At the crest of Hillside Place, the focus and symbol of WALNUT HILL, is the Normal School . . . .  Designed about 1880 by Warren Briggs, a Bridgeport architect, it was built of brick and brownstone and remains virtually unchanged since its construction. 

The building is surprisingly simple, and was built coincidently with the capital at Hartford.  But compared to the ornate capital, the Normal School appears devoid of ornamentation, modest, and austere.

The feeling is strongly vertical.  The elongated windows, numerous chimneys, gables, and the tall, substantial tower (once crowned with an elaborate, lacey weathervane of cast iron) typify the 19th century noble experiment: standardization of free, public-school education.  Simple in line, the building expresses great sophistication.  Windows in clusters of three carry the eye across the facade.  Circles carved in brownstone triangles at the gables may again be those Egyptian sun discs that are so profuse throughout WALNUT HILL—the eye of knowledge, the all seeing eye of light.

Click here to see the  Walnut Hill National Historic Landmark District, New Britain, Connecticut: A Guide to a Walking Tour that contains closeup drawing of the tower of the State Normal School  and the District logo, featuring the School tower. Note: Michael Sacks, Models for Neighborhood Revitalization in Historic Districts, prepared for Citizens for Action in New Britain, Trinity Center for Neighborhoods, Research Project 14, February, 1997.  Click here to see the Research Report.

1984

Loose bricks in school HQ tower causes closing of parking areas" by Marilyn Brayne.  (New Britain Herald, January 5)
Two loose bricks toppled from the bell tower of the 102-year-old New Britain school administration building last week, landing in the parking lot below.
Since then, loose bricks have been discovered in four other sections of the Hillside Place building, a national historic landmark.
School officials said no one was in the building at the time.  The fallen bricks were discovered Dec. 27.
Driving rain, followed by freezing, caused the bricks to dislodge and fall, said School Plant Manager Al Hinds.
Concerned that other loose bricks might fall and hit a person or car, school officials blocked off sections of the north and east parking areas.
Snorkel couldn’t reach
The fire department snorkel went to the scene in an attempt to remove loose bricks, but Hinds said the snorkel couldn’t reach the 120-foot-high tower.  A city building inspector also was called in. . . .        [Asst. Supt. Donald W.]. Friday said the building has had no major renovations other than installation of thermal-pane windows and some preservation work done several years ago with federal grant money.
The assistant superintendent said he was surprised the bricks fell since the building has had no serious problems in over a century of service. . . .
But [School Plant Manager Al] Hines said the building has been “steadily deteriorating” in recent years and that requests to have work done were not funded.
Click here to read the full article.

1984

Emergency repairs.”  (New Britain Herald, January 10) 
The F.J. Dahill Co. of New Haven submitted the lowest proposal, $3,800, to do emergency repairs after two bricks fell from the bell tower recently and loose bricks were discovered in four other parts of the 102-year-old building which is a national historic landmark. Click here to read the full article.


Sale of 27 Hillside Place To Be Condominiums

19

Memo, To: School Administration Building Review Committee, From: James T. Mahoney, Re: Responses to Request for Proposals for Provision of Offices and For Sale of 27 Hillside Place Building” Municipal Action Council, Inc., New Britain, Ct. (October 2)
Four developers proposed to purchase 27 Hillside Place at $150,000, $155,000, $200,000 and, by Crowninshield Corp., $251,500 for 22-24 luxury condominium units.  
        cost: $1.85 m., $1.368 “hard construction cost”
        tax abatement:
        historic reuse: yes, but would demolish annex
        notes: selling price of condos $95,000
Click here to read the “Memo, To: School Administration Building Review Committee from James T. Mahoney.

1987

Historic Hillside Place site has condo future: 19-22 units planned at Old Normal School.” (Zeke MacCormack, New Britain Herald, June 1)
Conversion of the school administration building into condominiums should begin next January and the residences will go on the market in 1989 for about $125,000 each, Paul Gaudet said yesterday
Gaudet is a spokesman for the Crowninshield Corp., of Peabody, Mass, high bidder in 1985 with a $251,500 offer for the Hillside Place school administration building. . . .  Once the former Normal School on Hillside Place is purchased, [Paul] Gaudet [, a spokesperson for Crowninshield, Corp. of Peabody, Mass. ,]  said Crowninshield will have it certified as a historic national landmark by the national government and begin its development for "adoptive reuse." Click here to see full article.

1987

New school HQ bid is ‘welching’” by Patrick Thibodeau.  (New Britain Herald, September 21)
The city would be “welching” on its agreement to sell Crowninshield Management Corp., 27 Hillside Place if it throws out the company’s nearly two-year-old offer of $251,500 to seek new ones, according to the lawyer representing the company here. . . .
Crowninshield wants to convert the deteriorating 47,000 square-foot 1882 building into approximately 22 luxury condominiums. . . .
Since Crowinshield made its offer, construction costs have increased by 18 percent a year and interest rates by two percent, said Guadet.
“Those two components alone . . . would make it very difficult for us,” he said.
 Click here to read the beginning of the article.

1987

“School HQ building sold, but not before council tempers flare” by Patrick Thibodeau.  (New Britain Herald, October 22)
A divided Common Council last night approved the sale of 27 Hillside Place — school administration headquarters — following a sometimes heated debate between Mayor William J. McNamara and Ald. Thomas Bozek.
The building will go to Crowninshield Management Corp. which offered $251,500 for the 1882 building near Walnut Hill Park — two years ago.
The Peabody, Mass., company wants to convert the former Normal School building — the first home of what is now Central Connecticut State University — into approximately 22 luxury condominiums.
The sale was approved 10-5 at the City Hall meeting. . . .
The aldermen were told by Karen M. Pierson of the Municipal Action Council that if the sale wasn’t approved, the city would have to pay to heat the empty building and provide security.
Click here to read the full article.

1988

“Crowninshield seeks variance to convert Hillside to condos” by Patrick Thibodeau.  (New Britain Herald, June 13)
The Hillside Place developers, Crowninshield Corp. of Peabody, Mass., are seeking a special exception from Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) this month to develop the former school administration building into condominiums. . . .
The building, which was built to house the former New Britain Normal School, is now vacant.  The school administration moved . . . earlier this year.
According to City Plan officials, the developers are planning to create 26 to 30 residential units with 48 parking spaces on the approximately two-acre site at the edge of Walnut Hill Park. 
Paul Gaudet, a spokesperson, said, that assuming they get ZBA approval, work on construction drawings will begin and they hope to begin construction in October, completing work something in June or July, 1989.
The average sale price of the condominiums will be approximately $125,000, he said. . . .
The City Plan Commission this week voted to recommend that the ZBA approve the special exception and said the “appropriate renovation and reuse of historic buildings should be encouraged . . .” Click here to read the full article.

1988

“Approval given for conversion of former school HQ into condos” by Patrick Thibodeau.  (New Britain Herald, June 30)
Crowinshield Corporation got unanimous Zoning Board of Appeals approval Tuesday night to convert the historic 1882 Hillside Place — the former School Dept. headquarters — into residential condominiums
The board’s vote was made without debate. . . .
The company plans to restore the building’s exterior and convert the building into 30 apartments.Click here to read the full article.

1990

“Condominiums to provide scholarly address” by Randy Burgess.  (The Hartford Courant, November 26)
Two years ago, the building’s association with public service ended.  The school administration, having decided renovations would cost too much, moved into a new office condominium at Liberty Square.  The former school, beautiful but aging, was sold to a limited partnership organized by a Massachusetts development firm, Crowninshield Corp.
Now workers are finishing the last details of renovations, and the first new owners should be ready to move in by January, said Diane Arute, one of  the project’s developers.
Sales have been slow.  After a month of marketing, only two units had  been sold as of Wednesday.  But Arute and Russo [“an agent with ERA Phanco Realty”] said that despite the poor economy and the housing  slump, they were confident. . . .
One potential disadvantage in marketing Hillside Place, as the project is called, is the Arch Street neighborhood only a block or two away.  But Arute says she hopes a task force appointed by the city will make progress in cleaning up crime, dilapidated buildings and other Arch Street  problems. 
The condominiums range in price from $90,000 to $195,000; the average is $155,000, Russo said.  The developers are marketing the one- to three-bedroom units for professionals.
“This building is attracting a lot of people who for some reason want or need to stay in New Britain, also people who love historical buildings,” Russo said.
Click here to read the full article.

Note: With the projected “condominiums range in price from $90,000 to $195,000; the average is $155,000, Russo said.  The developers are marketing the one- to three-bedroom units for professionals,” I compiled the following information on the real estate transactions of the 30 units as recorded on line and in the New Britain City Records and Assessors Offices: 
The City Conveyance Tax was, before 3/15/2003, .0011; after 3/15/2003, .0025.

See below for the real estate transactions of the 30 Units as Recorded in the New Britain City Records and Assessors Office:

1921

On November 30, 1988, a Quit-Claim Deed.  The City of New Britain sells 27 Hillside Place to Crowninshield-Walnut Hill Limited Partnership for $251,500.  [Includes detailed description of “piece or parcel of land with all buildings and improvements thereon.”] 
Click here to see: Quit-Claim Deed, Vol. 981, Pages 159-160.

On November 6, 1991, a Warranty Deed - Statutory Form.  Crowninshield-Walnut Hill Limited Partnership . . . for consideration paid . . . $120,000. does grant to James A. Manafort . . . Unit No. 27 . . . . Click here to see: Warranty Deed - Statutory Form, Vol. 1122, Pages 118-119.

On April 22, 1992, a Statutory Form Warranty Deed.  Crowninshield-Walnut Hill Limited Partnership . . . for consideration paid, grant to James A. Manafort Sr. . . . Unit No. 29 . . . .  $165.00 [City] Conveyance Tax received.  $250.00 State Conveyance Tax received.
Click here to see: Statutory Form Warranty Deed, Vol. 1123, Page 919.

On June 30, 1992, a Warranty Deed - Statutory Form.  Crowninshield-Walnut Hill Limited Partnership . . . for consideration paid . . . $130,000. does grant to Ronald P. and Constance J. Camden . . . Unit No. 10. . . .
Click here to see: Warranty Deed - Statutory Form, Vol. 1128, Pages 233-234.

On July 6, 1992, a Warranty Deed - Statutory Form.  Crowninshield-Walnut Hill Limited Partnership . . . for consideration paid . . . $75,000. does grant to Charles W. Bauer . . . Unit No. 7 . . . Click here to see: Warranty Deed - Statutory Form, Vol. 1128, Pages 641-642.

On July 6, 1992, a Warranty Deed - Statutory Form.  Crowninshield-Walnut Hill Limited Partnership . . . for consideration paid . . . $110,000. does grant to Christos Gnafakis and Sherri Kaplan . . . Unit 20. . . .
Click here to see: Warranty Deed - Statutory Form, Vol. 1128, Page 653-654.

On November 17, 1995, a Certificate of Foreclosure.  An Open End Mortgage, Assignment of Leases and Rentals and Security Agreement from Crowninshield-Walnut Hill Limited Partnership . . . was foreclosed upon by the Complaint of SKW Real Estate Limited Partnership . . . .
All that certain real property consisting of 30 condominium units Numbered 1 through 30 . . . .  Excepting therefrom unit numbers 7, 10, 17, 20, 27, 29. which have been heretofore released from the aforesaid mortgage deed by virtue of instruments recorded in the New Britain Land Records.

Click here to see: Certificate of Foreclosure, Vol. 1210, Pages 570-572.

On November 18, 1996, a Quitclaim Deed.  SKW Real Estate Limited Partnership . . . for consideration paid, grants to Peggy C. Mock . . . unit numbered 22.  Conveyance Tax Received City $65.89 State $299.50.
Click here to see: Quitclaim Deed, Vol. 1235, Pages 518-519.

On October 28, 1996, a Quitclaim Deed.  SKW Real Estate Limited Partnership . . . grants to Briardale Ventures, LLC, . . . Fairfield, CT, with Quit Claim, Covenants: 
Units 1-6, 8,9,11-16,18, 19, 21, 23-26, 28 and 30 Hillside Place.
Conveyance Taxes: City, $589.05; State $2677.50.  
(Using the City Conveyance Tax payment and 22 units bought, the average purchase price per unit was $24,341.) Click here to see: Quitclaim Deed, Vol. 1234, Pages 585-586.

On December 18, 1998, a Statutory Form Warranty Deed.  Patricia A. Camden . . . for consideration of $85,000. . . . grant to Richard W. Gertz . . . unit 17 . . . .
Click here to see: Statutory Form Warranty Deed, Vol. 1293, Pages 829-830.

Hillside Place Unit Assessor’s Database with updates.
Click here to see these documents.

Projected Annual Budget from Sale of First Unit
(Based on Thirty Declared Units)
Click here to see these documents.

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