Date: Fri 21-Mar-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

FHH-Cascella-land-buildings

Full Text:

Town Weighs Options For Use Of Fairfield Hills Property

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

"There are endless possibilities" is how First Selectman Robert Cascella sums

up the state's offer to give the town 22.6 acres and two buildings at

Fairfield Hills.

"I think it's very generous of the state of Connecticut," the first selectman

said Wednesday.

Mr Cascella noted the state owed the acreage to the town under the terms of a

1991 settlement of a lawsuit the town brought against the state over the

construction of Garner Correctional Institution.

The state, though, was not required to provide two buildings to the town, he

said.

"The buildings could prove advantageous to the town," Mr Cascella said, noting

the two brick structures could be put to multiple municipal uses.

Watertown Hall, a vacant 32,348-square-foot dormitory, might be used for town

administration, municipal office space, police use, a community center, a teen

center and/or a senior center, he said.

A 7,316-square-foot vehicle maintenance garage and former fire station might

be used for Parks and Recreation Department vehicles and Board of Education

maintenance department use, he said. That building also might be usable as a

firehouse for town fire protection of the Fairfield Hills campus, he said. The

state installed a new gasoline storage tank at the garage in recent years, the

first selectman said.

"The acreage is fairly flat ... and that's conducive to ball fields," he said.

Of the many possibilities posed by the state offer, Mr Cascella said the town

might raze the two buildings on the site, or might instead add a building

there.

If and when a fifth elementary school is needed by the town, it might be built

on the acreage, he said.

"I think [State Rep] Julia Wasserman did an excellent job in working with the

state" in terms of the town's acquiring the property, Mr Cascella said.

"Right now, the process is a little unclear," he said of the town's procedures

in addressing the state's offer. Town officials are reviewing what procedures

will need to be followed, he said.

The first selectman said the town will add the acreage and the two Fairfield

Hills buildings to the specifications being developed for a town space needs

study by an architectural consultant. That study also will include future uses

of Edmond Town Hall and Town Hall South, he said.

Mr Cascella said he has sent a letter to the state Office of Policy and

Management (OPM) requesting that the town be given until April 25 to respond

to the state's offer of land and buildings at Fairfield Hills.

Although town officials have had internal talks about the state offer, "we

haven't actually had a lot of public dialogue on this," Mr Cascella said.

At a minimum, the town will hold a public hearing on the future uses of the

land and buildings, he said.

"Julia's done her job," he said, adding it is now up to the town to pursue

future uses of the land and buildings.

"Fairfield Hills is the biggest, biggest variable going," Mr Cascella said.

A survey of Fairfield Hills is now being performed for the state, the first

selectman said. The survey will delineate the town's 22.6 acres.

That survey work also will delineate lot lines for the more than 12 houses

along Queen Street and Mile Hill Road South that the state plans to sell.

The state is seeking bids for the services of a marketing firm, which will act

as the state's agent to lease and/or sell state holdings at Fairfield Hills.

The property is 658 acres, contains 111 buildings and 1.65 million gross

square feet of enclosed space. Of those buildings, seven are listed in

excellent condition, 58 in good condition, 39 in fair condition and seven are

in poor condition.

Fairfield Hills formerly served as a state psychiatric hospital, which housed

about 3,500 patients at its height. The state closed the hospital in December

1995 as it pursued the state Department of Mental health's policy of patient

"reinstitutionalization."