Leading off the full lineup of financial and political decisions Newtown voters will face this year is the April 5 referendum to authorize or reject $9.55 million in spending and another $5 million in bonding for the design and construction  of a community center at Fairfield Hills. The proposal grows out of the work of the Community Center Commission over the past year, which consisted mostly of plumbing the preferences of townspeople for a brand-new "third place" in town - not home, not work, but a gathering spot where the benefits of true community might be nurtured and take root.(This editorial was edited at 3:30 pm March 31 to correct misleading figures here and in the print version of The Bee on the purposes and amounts of funding voters are asked to authorize on April 5.)

The commission made a good faith effort to hear all voices. Its proposal attempts to steer a middle course between extravagance (an ice rink was dropped from the plan) and inside-the-box thinking (an aquatic center was kept in). It also attempts to honor the intent of the generous grant by the GE Foundation that is underwriting two-thirds of the design and construction costs: that it be a facility that brings new services and opportunities to the community in a way that reflects the needs and desires of its people and addresses their ongoing determination to heal and grow in the wake of 12/14.

We applaud and approve of the work of the Community Center Commission since its formation last spring. We also acknowledge that its current plan will enhance community life. There are aspects of this process and plan, however, that signal a change in the way large capital projects are conceived and promoted in Newtown.

Typically, a project of this size and scope would be designed and put out to bid prior to a referendum vote so that taxpayers know the exact design and exact price before they go to the polls. That has not been done in this case. The exact price will be set by an approval on April 5, but the design and size of the multi-use community "hub" portion of the facility (non-aquatic facilities) will depend on the successful bids for the work. It will be somewhere between 13,000 and 18,000 square feet. (The aquatic center will be 32,000 square feet.) So voters really do not know at this point exactly what they will be getting for their money.

Additionally, an urgency arose in the planning of the project to monetize this public facility, even though the GE Foundation gift included $5 million to underwrite its operation for several years. We understand the return-on-investment mindset of many of the planners of this project - it was a prime motivation for both the aquatic center and the dropped ice rink option - but we wonder how much the perceived value of revenue generation skews a sage assessment of community need and utility for capital projects of this size and scope. If we are to emphasize even a limited pay-to-play potential of public facilities as a community goal, then we must embrace the consequences of it: not everyone can pay; not everyone can play.

We hope the Community Center Commission has guessed right on the mood of the community on this issue, after these many months of outreach and community forums. Only a strong turnout on April 5 will answer that question convincingly. Take the time to vote on Tuesday between 6 am and 8 pm at Newtown Middle School, 11 Queen Street.