Date: Fri 10-Oct-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Canaan-House-Fairfield-Hills

Full Text:

Town Offices In Canaan House Will Finally Get Heat

BYY STEVE BIGHAM

The heat at Canaan House was expected to be turned on late this week - good

news for those town employees who work there.

The building, which houses those workers formerly of Town Hall South, is part

of Fairfield Hills' central heating system. However, that system has been

turned off for the winter, requiring a separate boiler to be installed at

Canaan House.

This week's weather was relatively warm, but town employees were forced to

bundle up a week earlier as temperatures dipped down into the low 50s. Last

Friday was especially trying inside Canaan House; a water main broke, leaving

the building without running water.

Public Works Director Fred Hurley said the boiler was scheduled to be running

by Friday.

Town employees moved into the 8,600-square-foot Canaan House last February

after Town Hall South became increasingly ravaged by flooding and general

deterioration. The town is coming up on the end of the first year of a

two-year lease with the state of Connecticut.

Where will these employees go when the lease is up? Town officials are still

trying to figure that out. On Monday, the Board of Selectmen voted, 2-1, to

hire Antinozzi Associates, an architectural firm from Stratford, to conduct a

space needs study to assist the town in determining where the town offices

should be located.

Last winter, the town's Space Needs Advisory Committee concluded its own study

of the town's buildings, saying the best option would be to move the former

Town Hall South employees to Watertown Hall, the massive building at Fairfield

Hills that the town recently accepted from the state's Office of Policy &

Management. However, there are some who say that building should be torn down.

First selectman candidate Herb Rosenthal last week said he felt as if the

state might have simply unloaded the building onto the town. It's reportedly

full of asbestos, contains nothing but about 100 tiny dorm rooms, and water is

said to be leaking through the walls.

During the meeting, Selectmen Gary Fetzer opposed the idea of hiring a firm at

this time with a new administration coming into office in two months. They may

wish to take a different approach to this problem, he said. Selectman Jim

Mooney disagreed, saying that an entire year would be lost if the board did

not act now.

Ironically, Antinozzi Associates, which will be paid $24,000 for its services,

was hired by the state back in 1987 to conduct a study for Garner Correctional

Facility. Other possibilities still being looked at are adding on to Edmond

Town Hall and/or renovating Town Hall South.