Cold Snap At Canaan House

By Jan Howard

It was sweaters and space heaters for employees of Canaan House on the Fairfield Hills campus at the beginning of this week.

Apparently the boiler failed to respond when an attempt was made to start it last weekend in preparation for the heating season, and town and school system employees came to work Monday to a cold building as a result of the earlier-than-usual cold snap.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said on Wednesday that the boiler was expected to be up and functioning by that afternoon.

“It is on line,” Dominic Posca, director of buildings and grounds for the school system, confirmed at approximately 3 pm Wednesday. Mr Posca said Mr Rosenthal requested that he look into the problem.

“They had to get me to get my hands in there,” Mr Posca said. He said Blake Company of Bloomfield had been called in by Tunxis Management to fix the problem.

“I went up and talked to their representative who guaranteed to me that it would be up and running today,” Mr Posca said.

Mr Rosenthal had said earlier that he had been in touch with Tunxis Management regarding the problem and that the company had brought in someone to fix the problem. “I was very unhappy with them today,” he said.

“The boiler will be fixed this afternoon and be up and running today,” David Roane of Tunxis Management said early Wednesday afternoon.

Space heaters were provided to take off the chill, Mr Rosenthal said, but some employees said they were still feeling cold. One employee said the boiler is a problem at start-up time every year.

Mr Rosenthal said the boiler is to be replaced with a boiler from Greenwich House after the town takes over Fairfield Hills from the state.