Saving a Connecticut Training School Land

As a Connecticut resident, I think it would be wonderful to maintain the farmland and provide work opportunities for people with disabilities. Anybody else on board with this? Maybe I should call the Governor's office.

In about a decade -- maybe sooner -- the state and the town of Southbury are going to have to wrestle with the problem of what to do with Southbury Training School.
The school, at its peak, was a self-contained and self-sufficient residential center for people with mental disabilities.
It served more than 1,000 residents. Its farms and orchards provided them with the food they ate.
Today, about 400 people live there. It's an aging population. The state Department of Developmental Services stopped admitting people to the school in 1997.
As the residents die -- 25 or 30 a year -- the numbers will make it inevitable. The school will close.