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Can Town Hall South Be Resurrected?

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BY STEVE BIGHAM

In February of 1997, town employees were hastily moved from their offices at

Town Hall South where the environment had begun to take on Everglade-like

traits.

The building had deteriorated beyond the point of habitability as water seeped

through mildew-covered walls and onto water-logged carpets. The offices of

land-use, health, parks & recreation and building set up shop at Canaan House

on the campus of Fairfield Hills. The building was leased to the town from the

state for two years.

At the time, a return trip to Town Hall South seemed highly unlikely since the

downstairs offices in the building were viewed as a complete loss. However,

the massive leakage of a year and a half ago has been reduced to a few

trickles here and there, according to Public Works Director Fred Hurley.

The Main Street building is starting to get more and more use in recent weeks.

Monday's Board of Selectmen meeting was held at Town Hall South for the first

time in more than a year. First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said a move back to

the Town Hall South is not out of the question -- at least as a temporary

solution.

The town has plans to repair the building's roof at a cost of $60,000. This

will at least preserve the facility for the time being, according to the first

selectman.

"One of the things we'd have to consider would be to move everyone back to

Town Hall South once we stop the leaks," Mr Rosenthal said in March.

There are others who oppose the idea of returning to Town Hall South, even

temporarily. They wonder if OSHA would even allow employees to go back there.

The building is still being used by the police department.

Newtown's lease for Canaan House runs out in less than ten months, but Mr

Rosenthal said he has requested an extension with the state. "We have to get

going on this pretty quickly," he said Monday.

The town's effort to study its municipal office space needs fell flat last

week when no firms responded to the town's request for proposals. The

selectmen had been seeking an architectural firm to take a close look at the

town's municipal space needs and make a recommendation.

"The RFP may have been too open-ended," Mr Rosenthal said.

The plan has been put on hold until the selectmen determine their next move.

Gordon Fraser Facility

Some members of the Legislative Council have urged Mr Rosenthal to take a

serious look at Gordon Fraser, the former gift shop and warehouse located at

173 South Main Street. The building is plenty large enough for town offices

and is currently on the market for $2.4 million.

Last week, several town officials walked through the building, including

Public Works Director Fred Hurley. Earlier this week, he was preparing his

overall review of the building for the first selectman.

"We're trying to be very thorough," he said. "If it's a good opportunity, we

don't want to miss it."

Mr Rosenthal said he is not quite as enthusiastic about the building as are

some members of the Legislative Council. Sure it has some attributes, but it

also has several drawbacks, the first selectman said. For one thing, Mr

Rosenthal said, with a lack of small, low impact businesses here in town,

buying the building would take it off the town's tax rolls.

Legislative Council member Will Rodgers, who recently toured the building,

felt the building would certainly satisfy the town's short-term space needs.

However, like Mr Rosenthal, he is also cautious.

"My biggest concern is that we not rush into it like Town Hall South," he

said. "We need to take the time to determine if we're going to centralize our

town government, fix up Town Hall South or expand Edmond Town Hall."

Mr Rodgers said the town could purchase the Gordon Fraser building, use it as

town offices temporarily, then consider converting it into a school.

The council member said buying the property might "kill two birds with one

stone" since the lawsuit appealing the town's $1,566,550 assessment of the

property, currently filed against the town, could be dropped as part of any

deal.