Work Slated To Commence On Sports Facility At Fairfield Hills

By Kendra Bobowick

Spray painted at eye level across the crumbling brick face of Bridgewater House is the word “Demo,” which is exactly what happened this week as backhoe operators finished pulling down the walls and piling debris at Fairfield Hills. Once the space at the back of the campus is clear, another facility is ready to take its place.

As crews remove the last pieces of Bridgewater House resident Peter D’Amico plans to commence the construction of his privately funded Newtown Youth Academy during a groundbreaking ceremony at noon this Saturday, January 26. Since late 2007 and into the first days of 2008, heavy machinery has been putting into action the plans he has moved forward in the last year to open an indoor sports complex for residents.

“I wanted to give back,” he said. “This is the right thing to do.” He would like to see the building finished this year. With optimism, he named a desired finish date: “November 1.”

A business owner in town, Mr D’Amico of SCB office park and Bulk Materials International had first announced in March his offer to finance and build a facility that would create indoor recreation space for the town. By June he had entered a good faith agreement with officials, making land available to him. In September the lease was signed and October, first the Board of Selectmen, then the Planning and Zoning Commission approved plans for Mr D’Amico to build an 86,000-square-foot private recreation facility that will also open space for Parks and Recreation Department programming. The recreation commission is planning to construct a community center adjacent to the youth academy and will receive a discounted rate for use.

He hopes athletes, seniors, school teams, town athletic groups, and even young children will benefit. “A lot of people have indicated they will use it,” he said. While he envisions seniors using the indoor track for walks in the winter, he pictures another scenario. “Something for little kids in the day,” he said. Noting “there is nothing like it in the area,” Mr D’Amico mentioned the positive reactions his project has received. “Everyone has been supportive,” he said. He has spoken to coaches at the high school, Parks and Recreation Department members, and others who look forward to the youth academy.

“The previous first selectman, Herb Rosenthal, was instrumental with our early development and agreement with the town, and current First Selectman Joseph Borst and staff have also taken over and shown the same support and enthusiasm for our project,” said project affiliate Keith L Miller.

As a longtime soccer coach in town, Mr D’Amico knows the value of indoor athletic space.

“I have been involved in soccer for over 20 years and in the winter it’s the same thing — no room to play; basketball too — no room.” The recreation department currently faces scheduling problems for court space, and is completely reliant on schools for space to play, Parks and Recreation Department Director Barbara Kasbarian said last week.

The sports facility is among the first developments on the campus as Fairfield Hills reuse plans progress. In the last several months, unlike Mr D’Amico, a handful of private developers had put their preliminary plans on hold for leasing space for a restaurant, boutiques, and health care services, for example. While the Fairfield Hills Authority has worked to reestablish those potential lease agreements, Mr D’Amico had continued his preconstruction work for both himself and for the town.

“The reason I chose [Fairfield Hills] is to help promote revitalization,” he said. “Something had to go there to promote the area, something new and year-round promotes the idea of developing the area.” His building has also been designed to specifically fit the Fairfield Hills campus’s appearance of brick façades, peaked roofs, and multiwinged buildings.

According to his recent release regarding Saturday’s groundbreaking, the Newtown Youth Academy will have two sports buildings. The field house will have three full-court basketball/tennis/volleyball courts with a one-tenth mile, four-lane track around the perimeter. The turf building will have a 45-yard by 60-yard indoor turf field. The connecting structure will consist of a main lobby, food court, store, recreation rooms and bathroom/locker rooms on the main floor with an 8,000-square-foot fitness center on the second floor. At work doing the site work, excavation, and demolitions are Stamford Wrecking Company and Site Services of Roxbury. Architect Phil Clark has also donated time and services to the project.

The Details

Mr D’Amico explained that the construction budget, including Bridgewater’s demolition, is about $7 million. Privately financing the facility, he has also established the Newtown Youth Academy as a nonprofit entity, which will sponsor the project. Mr Miller explained, “As far as budget, our expenses have really grown. Creating a building that will have brick and white column facades has added a substantial amount to the initial cost, but we have chosen to have a building that will blend into the Fairfield Hills property and not have the appearance of a basic steel building.”

Several details have added to the cost of the type of facility that Mr D’Amico expects to have, Mr Miller explained. A southern exposed field house roof will be constructed for the addition of photo-electric solar panels in the near future. All of the existing construction debris, concrete and brick, is being reprocessed and will be reused on site for road bed and fill as opposed to being sent to land fill. The field house and the turf building will both be heated and cooled so playing in the winter and summer will be extremely comfortable. Mr Miller continued, “We have added an indoor track [1/10 mile] in the field house, which increased the size of that building.”

Patios will be located on both front corners and directly behind the main floor exit to the rear, allowing seasonal flow to the outside for sitting and relaxing.