BENNINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – As construction gets underway to transform the former Bennington High School into mixed-use housing, developers say they’ve secured the nearly $55 million for the public-private partnership.

The project is expected to include upwards of 39 apartments, including 17 that are affordable housing. It also includes moving the senior center into the old school building.

The building has been vacant since 2005, and developers said along with challenges getting the funding, they also dealt with various challenges when designing the property.

“We have a bunch of different types of architecture — we have four different eras. And then we have the brownfields, and then we have the floodproofing, and so those three things in terms of design and construction were a pretty big challenge and part of the reason why this building sat for so long,” said project developer Zak Hale.

He says they expect to complete the redevelopment close to the end of 2026.

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