A co-owner of what was once the Briarwood College campus in Southington says he and his partner plan to put the 32-acre property to use as a school.
Developer Mendel Paris, who recently purchased the property at 2279 Mount Vernon Road for $3.5 million, said he’s in talks with multiple schools about setting up some kind of high school, possibly a technical school, on the grounds. Briarwood, which in its last years was known as Lincoln College of New England, specialized in fields such as dental hygiene, mortuary sciences, nursing and occupational therapy, and its vacant classrooms still contain labs and other spaces that could be used in a trade school setting, according to Paris.
“It’s a natural fit for the property,” he said. “And it’s not doing anyone any good sitting empty as it is.”
In the near term, Paris said plans are in the works to use the property to host a prep school-style summer program for 17- and 18-year-olds. If ultimately launched, that program would start at the end of this month and run through August, he said.
Paris is a member of a New Haven-based business entity known as PGX Holdings, which acquired the former Briarwood campus in May. The other partner in PGX is Moises Grunblatt of Woodbridge, state records show.
The unused parcel, which is situated near the Bristol town line, currently houses seven buildings, mostly built between 1967 and 2008 to serve as classroom space.
Lincoln College of New England moved out of the property in 2018 and shut down in 2019. The institution was known as Briarwood College between its founding in 1966 and early 2010.
The future of the former campus has been in limbo for the last few years. There had been plans to redevelop the property into luxury homes for the 55 and older community and affordable housing, but none came to fruition.
