The Parks & Recreation Commission and the Commission on Aging are coordinating a series of public information sessions regarding community center planning and construction prior to a March 21 referendum to approve project funding. Providing “the big picture” for people to understand, and “to hear their input on the possibilities of this phased project,” is the main goal of forums to be hosted by the Parks and Recreation Commission, said Parks and Recreation Department Director Amy Mangold. The center is slated to stand next to the NYA Sports & Fitness Center (NYA) on a space once occupied by a former Fairfield Hills building.

Two general sessions have been scheduled for Tuesday, March 3, at 7 pm, in the Lecture Hall at Newtown High School, 12 Berkshire Road; and Tuesday, March 10, at 6 pm, in the lower level of Town Hall South, 3 Main Street.

Additional meetings, to be held  at Newtown Senior Center, at 14 Riverside Road and hosted by the Commission on Aging, are scheduled for Thursday, February 26, at 3 pm; and Saturday, March 7, at 11 am and 1 pm. Anticipating upcoming information meetings, Commission on Aging member Sheila Torres this week said, “These senior sessions complement the … Parks and Recreation sessions.”

First Selectman Pat Llodra said, “It’s outreach to better inform people going into the referendum, and to understand the project.”

Construction

The project’s first phase will include senior center construction and an aquatic center. The senior center planning calls for multipurpose rooms, arts and crafts space, a kitchen area, storage, and administrative areas, recreation and activities space. Additional future phases will include, among other plans, Parks and Recreation administrative space and programs.

Senior Center Director Marilyn Place said that seniors will have more space and “it’s happening as Phase I,” which appeals to her.

“We needed it, it’s time and it’s amazing.” Prospects of a new senior center are “phenomenal.” The seniors have outgrown their space on Riverside Road, she said, and a new larger space is “so needed and wonderful.”

Mrs Llodra said that because of GE gift, “we have the opportunity to begin.” The overall project will take place in phases over the course of several years, she said, and each phase can stand independently.

“Each phase is a standalone decision; each phase can stand alone … that’s key here, so we are not locked into an approach requiring certain things happening in the future,” Mrs Llodra said. “Each phase is a discrete action.”

Future phases may include a connector between NYA and the senior center. Also among possibilities is the option that the town could buy the NYA or partially own or administer it, Mrs Llodra said. Another possibility could be the addition of Parks & Recreation offices and activity space.

The first selectman notes similarities of today’s plans to past senior center expansion plans, saying several factors “had caused prior plans to fall apart.” She mentioned “relationship issues,” explaining that the seniors, “and rightly so,” were concerned with shared spaces in past community and senior center renditions.

“The seniors really want their own space,” Mrs Llodra said. “They became unhappy with the planning.”

Location issues and wetlands also raised concerns. Currently, designers are “trying to position the building with an aquatic component and a senior component, and the construction management is confident we can site it on that location,” she said.

Commission on Aging Chair Curt Symes anticipates a summer groundbreaking for Phase I construction. Mrs Llodra hopes to move “go forward full steam” if the referendum is successful.

On The Web

The Newtown website (Newtown-ct.gov) offers the brief statement that says, in part, that thanks to the GE Foundation, the town will soon begin the design and construction of a new community center to house a senior center and a new aquatic center for community use. The statement urges residents to “come meet the design and construction team … share input and vision … and learn how you can support the project at an upcoming referendum.” Also according to the statement, community input “will be sought” through planning and design phases. “Come and be a part of the process.”

The March 21 referendum is to gain required taxpayer approval to spend the stipulated GE grant — a $15 million gift to Newtown from General Electric. The grant is stipulated to provide $10 million for development and construction of a community center, with the balance devoted to a minimum of five years of operational programming at $1 million per year. But one of the most favorable outcomes of the operational grant is the ability to extend the $5 million to cover not just the first five, but the first 15 years of operation, according to center advisory committee co-leader Andrew Clure.