Step-By-Step Work Leads To Demolition, New Construction At Fairfield Hills

By Kendra Bobowick

They want Litchfield House down, demolished, and out of the way as soon as possible. “This is the right time,” said Parks and Recreation Department Director Amy Mangold. “It makes sense to do it now.” In agreement, First Selectman Joe Borst said this week, “We’d like to get it done.”

Surrounded by other demolition preparation, site work, and the recently established Newtown Youth Academy, Litchfield House is now a stagnant block amid development. The former state hospital building’s nearly 80-year-old façade is sitting in a spot slated for a community/senior center intended for seniors and recreation department programs and eventually a pool house. Already gone from that corner of the Fairfield Hills grounds is Bridgewater House, which made way for the privately owned youth academy, and Fairfield House — razed to open the ground for a new 90-foot baseball diamond now in use.

“It’s the right thing to get it down and out of the way while the back of the campus is being cleaned up,” said Public Works Director Fred Hurly. “It’s an excellent time.” Additional work-in-progress surrounds Litchfield House. Already crews are on site preparing to take down Greenwich House, which will make room for centralized parking spaces serving Bridgeport Hall where education and municipal offices will relocate by the end of this year. The parking will also serve the baseball field, the youth academy, and the planned community/senior center. With similar thoughts, Ms Mangold said, “Do it now while [other] work is going on.” She also aims to move forward with the community center.

Greenwich demolition prep work is ongoing. Once the teardown begins, the building will go quickly, Mr Hurley said.

The Community/Senior Center

Already approved in a prior round of Capital Improvement Plan funding is roughly $700,000 for Litchfield House demolition. The remaining $300,000 is being applied to architectural design for the community and senior building to accommodate both the seniors and the recreation department. A future phase will see a pool at the location.

At work with the seniors and recreation members are representatives from Ames & Whitaker Architects of Waterbury. “They should be coming through with plans,” Ms Mangold said Monday. Architects recently met with the seniors, the Commission on Aging, and the Parks and Recreation Department both individually and as a group, to determine programming and space needs. “Now, they’ll come up with a design,” Ms Mangold said. Future capital improvement plan requests will seek funding for construction. Preliminary concepts for the community center see separate spaces for the two departments in a shared building.