Demolition Marks Redevelopment Progress At Fairfield Hills

By Kendra Bobowick

As the steel teeth of backhoes scratched the earth around Fairfield House, the brick building’s roof and walls also felt the measured bite of machinery this week.

“We’ll take the roof off and chip through the floors,” said O&G Industries, Inc, Project Manager David Cravanzola as he looked ahead to coming days of demolition that began earlier this week. “We will start from one end [of the building] and move toward the other. It’s possibly one of the safest ways to do it.”

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said, “I am certainly happy it’s underway.”

The demolition makes a significant mark on the timeline of redevelopment plans for the former state hospital that the town purchased in 2001. Mr Rosenthal said, “It’s the first building to be removed — the first of several. It’s a sign of progress.”

Mr Cravanzola warns that the demolition may not be what residents expect. “There won’t be a big, dramatic removal with a wrecking ball,” he said. Noting the explosive demolition images on television, Mr Cravanzola explained, “You won’t see the whole thing come down in one swoop like the movies. [Equipment] will be chewing the building apart, we’ll chip away at the masonry and concrete and will pull out all the steel holding the building up.”

He described a methodical approach to razing the building. “We’re essentially dismantling it and it will come down in a process, not wildly.” Safety is also a factor. “It’s our goal to do this as controlled as possible so no one is hurt. It’s one of the safest ways to do it,” he said. “But, it’s messy.”

Drivers traveling along Wasserman way who may turn their heads for a glimpse onto the campus will notice a lot of debris along with the mounds of soil that have been accumulating as contractors do what work they can to prepare the area for a baseball field. The building will be down in roughly two-and-a-half weeks, Mr Cravanzola estimates.

While crews from Standard Demolition Services of Trumbull take down Fairfield House, other crews from Nagy Brothers Construction in Monroe are “doing what they can ahead of time” with playing field preparations. “They are screening and moving top soil and reshaping behind the building and leveling it out.”

The 90-foot ball field that Parks and Recreation Department members say they desperately need in town must be seeded soon if the field will be ready for use by the fall of 2008.

The schedule currently has no margin for error. “We have to get it seeded by the end of September. The most important thing is to get this seeded,” Mr Cravanzola said. Mr Rosenthal said, “I have been hearing a lot from the leagues that they are looking forward to it.”

The first 1930s-era building slated for demolition at the Fairfield Hills campus marked progress in the years of planning since the town purchased the former state hospital property.

This year, an election year, has also brought controversy. The first selectman has been the focus of some residents’ opposition to Fairfield Hills redevelopment plans, particularly the use of Bridgeport Hall for town offices. Redevelopment opponents have also questioned the validity of the master plan itself, which they note was rejected by voters in a townwide vote, which local officials have characterized as “nonbinding.”

During the past six years site work has included contaminated soil remediation, building inspections, and mothballing — or measures to seal several buildings for future use. Real estate planning has also been ongoing in hopes of attracting both developers and tenants for the site.

Mr Rosenthal said, “I hope people will be happy about that.”

By a town meeting vote, residents approved the appropriation of approximately $21 million in funds to purchase and redevelop the campus for town purposes.

(See related article regarding each building’s location and future use or demolition in this issue.)