Date: Fri 08-May-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Eyesores-Oberg's-Trudeau

Full Text:

No Relief In Sight For Newtown's Sore Eyes

(with cuts)

BY STEVE BIGHAM

Walking past the former Oberg's gas station on Church Hill Road, one is

reminded of an old Mel Gibson movie.

Remember Mad Max and The Road Warrior ? The science fiction thrillers are

supposed to take place after a nuclear war that destroyed most of the world.

Nothing remains but a few helpless people and hundreds of vacant buildings

left in ruin.

Oberg's looks more like a movie set than it does the centerpiece of Newtown's

borough. But there the eyesore sits in the middle of its own decay, broken

glass, dirt, dust and quite possibly environmental contamination, according to

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal.

It's the same farther down the road at the former Highway Cleaners, which is

little more than a burned-out shell. It sits, as it has for more than a

decade, welcoming those coming off Interstate 84. The cleaners went out of

business about 12 years ago after the building went up in flames.

Then there is the barren wasteland on Swamp Road, which was formerly known as

the Charles Batchelder Company. The company closed its doors and filed

bankruptcy 11 years ago, leaving behind an absolute mess. Some of the

building's contaminated material was removed by the US Environmental

Protection Agency last year, but the environmental damage persists.

These three infamous sites have been on Mr Rosenthal's mind since he took

office five months ago. But while the first selectman can play a role in

resolving the issues, much what happens at these sites is out of his hands. He

can act as a facilitator, however, and this week he met with Newtown Shopping

Center owner Joe Kasper to work toward getting Oberg's out of limbo.

Mr Kasper wants to buy the property from Ernest Wiehl of Pepper Partners

Limited Partnership, but to date the two have not agreed on a price.

Mr Kasper has plans to knock the building down, then use the property as an

accessway into Big Y and the other stores in his shopping center.

Mr Wiehl is in Florida, but Mr Rosenthal plans to set up a joint meeting

between the three men once he returns.

"I'm hopeful that eventually we'll be able to do something there. My goal is

to get that gas station taken down and out of there," Mr Rosenthal said. "I

think Mr Kasper's goal is a similar one. There's just a question about Mr

Wiehl."

According to Borough Zoning Enforcement Officer Jean St Jean, both Kasper and

Wiehl had an agreement back in 1995 that said the land would change hands when

the time was right.

"Where that stands at this point, I don't know," she said last week.

Complications

The Highway Cleaners may be a bit more complicated. The building is owned by

Bill Trudeau, Sr, and it is unclear what his plans for the future of the

vacant structure are.

"It's been difficult trying to find the status of the property," said Mr

Rosenthal, who recently sent a letter to the building department requesting

that the building's doors be nailed shut.

The first selectman said the town could officially condemn the former Highway

Cleaners, but that can cause liability concerns, which the town is not

interested in taking on.

As for the Batchelder property, the extent of the environmental damage is

still being determined by the town's health officials and other experts. It

may be years before the site is ever cleaned up, according to town officials.

And finding a developer to take over the property may require a miracle.