‘Save Fairfield Hills’ Group Offers An Alternative Vision

By Steve Bigham

The group known as “Save Fairfield Hills for Newtown” went before the Legislative Council Wednesday night to remind members that there is another development alternative besides the one currently endorsed by some town officials as the town considers the purchase of Fairfield Hills.

It is an alternative that replaces the proposed corporate park section of Fairfield Hills with something more like Central Park. In what turned into a 30-minute presentation, the group laid out its vision for Fairfield Hills, which is currently up for sale by the state. For the most part, the Save Fairfield Hills members said they agree with the Fairfield Hills advisory committee’s report, which came to the conclusion that Newtown should buy the 185-acre property. However, there are a handful of major differences between the two visions. Bill Colbert of Possum Ridge Road was hand picked by the group to outline those differences.

First, he said, the group has a problem with the corporate park idea. It is concerned about parking. Under the advisory committee’s proposal, an additional 2,300 cars would be taking up space there. That’s a lot of cars traveling through Newtown, Mr Colbert pointed out.

Second, he said, a corporate park would affect the population of Newtown because it will attract more residents to the area. That creates a need for more schools, more everything, Mr Colbert said.

Third, the proposed corporate park would bring in an estimated $1 million in revenue –one of the main selling points of the corporate park strategy. That’s really not that much, according to Mr Colbert.

Fourth, the town needs this 38 acres for park space rather than corporate space. “We’re going to need all that space. We envision a great park – a really great park. We could have concerts there and we could have the summer festival, which has sort of disappeared in recent years,” said Mr Colbert, calling this a quality of life issue. “It would be nice to be able to go back to the park after the Labor Day Parade and continue that festive feeling.”

Mr Colbert believes the state is in a sound financial position right now and would be able to help offset much of the cost to the town. We need to show them this dream we have, he said.

“Quite frankly, I think the state wants us to have Fairfield Hills more than the developers,” Mr Colbert said.

Other speakers included Mary Ann Currie and Deborah Wilkes, who outlined other “Save Fairfield Hills” visions. These visions suggested that the “entry plaza” into Fairfield Hills (consisting of Newtown and Woodbury Halls) be reserved for town usage instead of commercial use, although some space could be leased for small office use, they said.

The group also suggested that Bridgeport Hall – a massive building formerly used as the hospital’s dining hall – be turned into a community center for trade shows, kitchen space, library book sale storage, food bank, social events, etc.

Yale and Shelton House could be leased out as art centers, while Stratford Hall could be turned into a café facility. Stamford Hall, according to the group, could be used as a “care center” for children and/or the elderly.

Kent and Cochran houses would be reserved for future school needs. Canaan House, Greenwich House, and a host of other buildings would be demolished in favor of a town park, they said.

Save Fairfield Hills also proposed a committee rather than an authority to oversee the management of the property. This committee would be elected and its seven members would hire an executive director. An authority, according to members, simply has too much power.

In conclusion, Save Fairfield Hills member Margaret Lopez-Cepero read a piece she wrote on what her dream for Fairfield Hills is. She urged residents to continue the work already set forth by Mary Hawley, Bertram A. Strook, Anna Strauss, the Smith family, and others, and to establish Fairfield Hills as a lasting legacy for the town.

“We are all indebted to these forward-thinking people. They have added to the quality of life in Newtown. Now you and I have that same opportunity,” she read. “We set into motion the preservation of this special place and made it our vision for future generations. We need to rethink going for the dollars and instead come up with the best solution for this magnificent Fairfield Hills property. I think the best solution is to shun corporations, move the traffic from Main Street, make use of existing buildings for a school and town buildings, add ball fields, and have a long-term plan for adding recreational facilities for all age groups to enjoy.”

Floros Responds

Two weeks ago, the Fairfield Hills advisory committee presented its final recommendations for the re-development of Fairfield Hills should the town opt to buy the land. Chairman Michael Floros believes in that report and responded to the “Save Fairfield Hills” presentation.

“I don’t want to get into a debate. Everyone has their own vision, but our top priorities for Fairfield Hills were open space, schools, municipal space, as well as a diversification of the tax base,” he said. “The viability of [the corporate park] plan was proven when an outside developer said they were interested.”

Mr Floros admitted that Mr Colbert’s vision is a nice one, but wondered if he actually believed Newtown’s taxpayers could afford it. Not everyone moving here is going to live in a “trophy house” and we don’t necessarily want that, Mr Floros said.

“And, Mary Hawley did not walk into any of our meetings, so we did have to address how we were going to pay for this,” he said.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal is currently in negotiations with state officials to come up with a final selling price as well as other terms of the sale.