Sandy Hook Center Beautification Project Progressing
Sandy Hook Center Beautification Project Progressing
By Andrew Gorosko
Brick by simulated brick, the long-awaited Sandy Hook Streetscape Project is being constructed in Sandy Hook Center, with textured sidewalks, ornamental trees, and antique-style lampposts now adorning a section of Church Hill Road.
A crew from LRM, Inc, this week installed simulated red-brick concrete sidewalks on the north side of Church Hill Road, near the Pootatuck River. Using colored, textured concrete to simulate red bricks eliminates the maintenance required by brick sidewalks. The five-foot-wide sidewalks are accented by gray granite curbing.
Community Development Director Elizabeth Stocker said this week that the masonry work along Church Hill Road should be completed by the end of the month. Work started after Labor Day.
Work is underway on the section of Church Hill Road lying between its intersection with Dayton and the bridge that crosses above the Pootatuck River.
A series of black-finished antique-style ornamental lampposts line both sides of Church Hill Road. It is unclear, however, when those lamppostsâ electric lamps will be illuminated. The town is seeking to negotiate an easement with a private property owner to extend electric service to the lampposts. Ms Stocker said.
The streetscape project is intended to beautify the area, with the goal of attracting more visitors to economically stimulate the compact business district.
The improvement project has been in the planning stages since mid-2001.
LRM, Inc, of 57 Church Hill Road will be paid $317,646 to perform the construction. Landscape architect Jane Didona of Didona Associates of Danbury oversaw the projectâs design.
Beyond the Church Hill Road beautification work, future improvements are planned for the sections of Glen Road, Riverside Road, and Washington Avenue, which extend outward from the four-way intersection of those streets.
The overall streetscape project is expected to cost $1.25 million, which will be jointly covered by federal, state, and town funds. The federal share for the work would be $620,000; the state will cover $475,000 of the costs; and the town will assume the remaining $155,000.
A $42,400 component of the streetscape project, which involves the construction of a pedestrian plaza in front of Sandy Hook Wine and Liquor at 102 Church Hill Road, has stalled. That area is now used for perpendicular parking.