2009: A Year Of Losses And Gains At Fairfield Hills

By Kendra Bobowick

One January gamble to welcome a veterinary hospital to the Fairfield Hills campus soured as the months of 2009 passed. Bitterly cold early January days were a hopeful time for Scott Schifilliti and Debra Weisman of Glen Mountain Holding Company LLC when, at a selectmen’s meeting that month, the three-member board unanimously agreed to sign a land lease agreement for Woodbury Hall.

Support for the LLC’s loan at last fell through, however, more than ten months later when Glen Mountain had to pull out of the deal for financial reasons.

The town was also struggling at the start of the year to proceed with work at Bridgeport Hall, which was scheduled to open as the new Newtown Municipal Center. As January dawned and contractors attempted to complete remediation and remodeling work in the building, they met with resistance. Public Works Director Fred Hurley told the Board of Selectmen he had never seen the level of scrutiny on the part of state agencies being devoted to ongoing development projects at Fairfield Hills. And upon learning the state may take weeks, not days, to decide on appropriate testing procedures to determine the level of asbestos in buildings slated for renovation and demolition on the town-owned campus, Mr Hurley declared he had had enough.

Questions about work practices and procedure from the project’s critics in Newtown resulted in months-long delays. Regardless, the state’s review of filing and procedure for materials handled and work crews employed in the end revealed nothing illegal. The Municipal Center is now in use, and Greenwich Hall, which was being razed, is now down and a parking area and green now stand before the Newtown Youth Academy — another newer facility that saw its first full, and thriving, 12 months.

Also persisting throughout 2009 was the military’s interest in Fairfield Hills property, which began with correspondence in late January. Signed by Army Corps of Engineers District Commander Colonel Keith A. Landry, a letter received on a Monday morning lay folded open on then-First Selectman Joe Borst’s desk — a formal request for 13 acres of town-owned land “adjacent to the Army National Guard property in Newtown … the property noted on your Fairfield Hills Master Plan as the High Meadow and the East Meadow meet the requirements for adjacent land as defined by BRAC [Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission] …” Town officials had 30 days to respond to the Army’s offer to make the purchase in order to build a new Army Forces Reserve Center.

Mr Borst had said, “It’s not going up there as far as I am concerned.” The military’s appeal to the town was met with suggestions for alternative sites, denials for others, and the eventual tapering off of negotiations — no land has been selected, and no deals struck for a military facility in Fairfield Hills or Newtown.

In February, a Board of Selectmen’s meeting made the town’s position clear. Selectman Herb Rosenthal proposed a motion insisting that the first selectman write a letter rejecting the military’s interest in the High Meadow. He suggested the board “strongly and categorically reject the army’s offer to purchase land at Fairfield Hills.”

Mid-February brought some bad news to the Fairfield Hills Authority and town officials. February 13 was unlucky: Danbury Hospital canceled plans to establish a medical services center in Newtown Hall — one of the best-preserved buildings available for lease at Fairfield Hills. Hawley Realty, a division of Hawley Construction Corporation of Danbury, the development firm that often does work for the hospital, legally stepped away from intentions to lease and renovate space as a result. Town officials promptly sought new plans. What about similar medical practices? Director of Planning and Community Development Elizabeth Stocker hinted that other medical facilities might want to locate offices at Fairfield Hills. “We’ll see if they are interested,” she said. “We’ll pursue all we can at this point.”

The year would see the campus skyline change shape as Greenwich House came down, creating a clear view across the top of Bridgeport Hall to the Newtown Youth Academy. By April, officials would be looking toward an opening date for Bridgeport Hall in its new role as the Newtown Municipal Center. Greenwich House also sat poised for demolition that month, and portions of a trail system would be completed in the late spring.

In May eyes turned to Litchfield House, with interest to go out to bid for that building’s demolition. By late December the town was going through the bidding process for a second time after complications from one low bidder that did not receive the demolition work. The site is set aside for a new Parks and Recreation community center as Capital Improvement Plan funds become available in phases.

Later that month the Fairfield Hills Authority still held hopes that a proposed veterinary hospital would secure the funding to establish itself in Fairfield Hills.

Naming A New Municipal Center

Improvements this summer reshaped rutted gravel between Woodbury and Newtown Halls. Heavy machinery scarred the strip of ground and a more scenic central green soon emerge.

Rob Manna with LRM Landscape Contractors unfolded a diagram: on paper was a central, 40-foot flagpole surrounded by a circle of paving stones and two benches, and on either end of the green were brief patio areas that also included several benches. The space will offer a rustic view and place to rest.

At an August Board of Selectmen’s meeting officials first spoke the new town office building’s name aloud: “What do you want to call it?” asked Selectman Paul Mangiafico. “I suggest the Newtown Municipal Center,” said First Selectman Joe Borst. Selectman Herb Rosenthal agreed. At 9:50 Monday night the selectmen renamed Bridgeport Hall that sits in the heart of Fairfield Hills to reflect its new function of serving as a municipal hub for Newtown.

The town in September was planning a “big move,” starting that month, and “we have to do this in pieces or it would be chaos,” said then-First Selectman Joe Borst. Leaving behind old office space at Edmond Town Hall and the Kendro Building on Peck’s Lane, much of Newtown’s municipal and Board of Education personnel prepared to relocate in stages to the Municipal Center. Looking at tentative dates spanning from September 18 through November 2, move coordinator Maria DeMarco of DeMarco Management, had said, “Before the holidays they’ll all be snug in a new place.” They were. Less than a week from Halloween a moving van sat outside the Edmond Town Hall as one piece of office equipment followed another into its cargo area.

Looking forward to a campus “coming back to life,” she described the transformations at the former Bridgeport Hall: “It’s beautiful.” The move dates covering much of the early fall are tentative at the time, but proved successful.

As fall faded and winter approached, the building was ready to welcome Governor M. Jodi Rell to swear in the town’s new slate of elected officials, including the new Republican First Selectman Pat Llodra following her win in the November elections. Also late in the year, Fairfield Hills Authority members noted without fanfare the end of a process that began in 2001, when the town voted to appropriate roughly $21 million to purchase Fairfield Hills from the state and — among other priorities — establish a new town hall on the campus. “The bonded money will all be spent,” said member Don Studley, including the more than $10 million in renovations at Bridgeport Hall to welcome town and education department offices.

With less than two months left in the year, news arose that the veterinary hospital plans had stalled. Failure to secure funding has spoiled plans for the much-anticipated veterinary hospital slated to occupy Woodbury Hall. Dated November 2, a letter to town attorney David Grogins begins: “It is with great regret that Glen Mountain Holding Company LLC … has been unable to finalize its financing.” First Selectman Joe Borst conveyed the news to Legislative Council members during a November meeting.

Brighter news followed when Gov Rell visited the new municipal center. Members of the Second Governor’s Horse Guard, which is based in Newtown, escorted her into the newly occupied seat of local government where she swore in newly elected officials.

She said the swearing-in ceremonies marked the “beginning of new things, fresh perspectives,” giving the incoming administration members a few moments to “reflect on their role as individuals and as part of a team.”

The year would end with discussion of a fresh approach to marketing the vacant brick buildings and revitalizing the remainder of Fairfield Hills campus.