Connecticut Economic Development Officials

Discuss Fairfield Hills

By Kendra Bobowick

Depicted in diagrams were the details: three stories, attic, basement, walls – brick, 208,000 square feet, built in 1940; AC – no, elevator – no, 16,000 square feet, built in 1933. Flashing on the projector screen or staring back at guests Tuesday from poster boards were images and specs for the Fairfield Hills campus buildings, site history, and recent reuse projects since the state closed the psychiatric hospital in 1996.

Newtown Economic and Community Development Director Elizabeth Stocker welcomed the roughly 35 men and women to the Connecticut Economic Development Association’s (CEDA) membership meeting. Ms Stocker is on the board of directors, and used the opportunity to showcase Fairfield Hills. Also among guests were community members involved with planning the campus’s future uses.

Ms Stocker noted that several guests and CEDA members this week had prior involvement in the campus, including Bob Santy, former state deputy commissioner of economic development, Tom Corso and Larry Kenney with AMS consulting, which did the highest and best use study for state when the hospital was open.

First Selectman Pat Llodra greeted those gathered in Bridgeport Hall.

“I love the town; I am passionate about the town and about Fairfield Hills,” she said. Offering a detail about the building in which they stood, she said, “This is Bridgeport Hall. Fairfield Hills was an old form of an institution for mental health … this was the cafeteria.”

Constructed in the 1930s, Fairfield Hills buildings have loomed over former farming meadows and fields for decades. Mrs Llodra said, “I have had the opportunity to watch these buildings deteriorate.” Since 2001 when the town purchased a portion of the land and buildings, plans to reshape the campus have begun. Already completed is a large amount of site and soil remediation, demolition of several buildings, construction of a 90-foot baseball diamond, the new municipal center, trails improvements and design, and infrastructure work.

The privately funded Newtown Youth Academy is also a new construction and large draw to Fairfield Hills. Several academy members, including the owner’s son Matt D’Amico, and director Keith Miller, both spoke about the programs the recreation facility has to offer.

Mrs Llodra said, “The greatest gift for future generations are these 185 acres. We face a substantial challenge.”

Running through the site’s history, she arrived at the present, where various town bodies are working to promote the campus for economic growth.

A short list of speakers offered private, regional, and local economic perspectives, before the group walked across several of the new parking lots and green to view the Newtown Youth Academy. In a courtyard outdoors near a decorative fountain and patio benches was a small buffet as guests — including many real estate investors — gathered for a closing reception.