P&Z Hearing Slated On Fairfield Hills Master Plan Revisions

By Andrew Gorosko

The Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) has scheduled a public hearing on proposed revisions to the Fairfield Hills Master Plan, which would provide for future town offices in a renovated Bridgeport Hall at Fairfield Hills.

The public hearing is slated for 7:30 pm Thursday, April 12, at Newtown High School Auditorium, 12 Berkshire Road, Sandy Hook.

The town acquired the 187-acre Fairfield Hills core campus from the state for $3.9 million in August 2004. The site includes many large masonry buildings that formerly were used for patient care and services at the state psychiatric hospital that closed in December 1995.

In March 2005, following lengthy consideration, the P&Z approved the Fairfield Hills Master Plan in a 3-to-2 vote.  

That master plan, which was formulated for the town by consultant Harrall-Michalowski Associates of Hamden, is designed to guide the town’s redevelopment of the former psychiatric hospital and grounds.

The master plan recommends what should happen to each building on the core campus, be it reuse, demolition, or partial demolition. The P&Z’s rules provide a mechanism through which the master plan can be modified, as needed.

The Board of Selectmen is seeking modifications to the Fairfield Hills Master Plan concerning the site that would be used to create a future town office complex, containing municipal government office space, plus public school system office space.

The current master plan provides two possible alternatives for a town office complex. One alternative would be the renovation and reuse of Shelton House for offices. The other alternative would involve the demolition of Shelton House, followed by the construction of a new building for office space on that site.

The town office space alternative was to be based on structural and architectural analyses and review.

Following such analyses by an architectural firm, it was concluded that Shelton House has structurally deteriorated and would be unable to effectively meet town office needs through a renovation project. Also, it was learned that the presence of flowing groundwater at the Shelton House site makes it unsuitable for the construction of a new office building, according to the Board of Selectmen.

In the application to the P&Z to modify the Fairfield Hills Master Plan, the Board of Selectmen and the Fairfield Hills Authority ask that the town instead plan to renovate Bridgeport Hall, which is located southeast of Shelton House, for town office space.

Shelton House formerly was used as a residence for psychiatric patients at Fairfield Hills. Bridgeport Hall was a central dining and kitchen facility. 

Also, the selectmen and the Fairfield Hills Authority recommend that the P&Z endorse master plan changes that would allow the demolition of Shelton House and the creation of a pond on that site. Such a pond would provide both environmental and scenic benefits, according to the application. The pond would contain the water of a piped and channeled underground stream that now passes through the Shelton House basement.

The square footage at Bridgeport Hall that would be used for office space would be similar to the amount of space that would be used for that purpose at Shelton House, the application states.

Bridgeport Hall

A conceptual proposal to presented to the town by consultant O&G Industries calls for the complete renovation of Bridgeport Hall to provide office space for the town government and school system.

The structure is in generally better condition than most other buildings on the campus and its former use as a dining facility required the large-span interior spaces that are well-suited for conversion to assembly spaces and to open office environments, according to the O&G study.

Vehicle parking for the building would be provided along adjacent access driveways and in a large parking lot. Two renovated and improved porticos would provide entry/exit points at the building.

One large wing of the building would provide open office space for health department, fire marshal, building department, and land use department. The other large wing would provide office space for the Board of Education.

Smaller wings would house other smaller departments. A meeting room for the Legislative Council would be created.

 First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal said this week that it would be more practical for the town to convert Bridgeport Hall for town/school office space than to convert the adjacent Shelton House for office space or  to demolish Shelton House and use its site for new office construction.

Costs, the physical condition of the buildings, and site conditions led the selectmen to that conclusion, he said.

Creating a pond with a fountain at the Shelton House site would improve stormwater drainage at the Fairfield Hills core campus, as well as provide a scenic aspect for the area, he said.

The conversion of Bridgeport Hall into town offices has been sharply criticized in letters to the editor of The Bee and on the weblog created by Newtown businessman Matt DeAngelis, Insidenewtown.com. Critics assert that the town hall was not specifically authorized by the 2001 town meeting that approved the borrowing for various Fairfield Hills projects, that a town hall project will divert local resources from other more important projects needed for the schools and at Fairfield Hills, and that the town government’s main presence should not move from its present location on Main Street.