The Environmental Protection Agency Provides Funds For Stratford Hall

By Kendra Bobowick

The ceiling’s height pulled Brownfields Project Officer Dorrie Paar’s gaze more than 15 feet upward as she peered inside Stratford Hall. Stepping through the doorway on Thursday, June 4, Ms Paar, with the Environmental Protection Agency, was careful to avoid fallen tiles cluttering the former state hospital building’s floor at Fairfield Hills.

With her were Health District Director Donna Culbert, Director of Economic and Community Development Elizabeth Stocker, and environmental consultant Russell Bartley.

The town has received an EPA grant of $200,000 for use toward Stratford Hall cleanup, and the brief tour for Ms Paar’s benefit concluded the afternoon’s meeting at Fairfield Hills to talk about the EPA’s requirements and the town’s obligations for a grant process that will soon begin. The town must provide a 20 percent match, Ms Stocker explained. The EPA also requires a public hearing before the work is put out for bid. Overall, Ms Stocker said, “There are steps we have to take” before work can start. She anticipates the cleanup work will be underway “in a few months.” If funds remain after Stratford Hall, money will go toward tunnel excavation as the public works crews continue to create an underground infrastructure loop throughout the campus.

This week, Fairfield Hills Authority Chairman Bob Geckle described the benefits. “If someone comes in, they’ll have a clean building — no prospects of remediation. It’s a lot easier for us to market.” Past interests in the hall included renovations for a restaurant. Although those plans fell through, Mr Geckle said, “Hopefully it will be a restaurant some day. If you look past its current state, it could be majestic.” Stratford Hall had served as a library and as an executive dining room for Fairfield Hills personnel.

Along with dislodged tiles and a dusty smell were windowsills scarred with peeling varnish, fading woodwork, and rust-clogged radiators. “I understand that before the heat was turned off, a lot of moisture got in…” Ms Stocker said last week, also glancing around Stratford’s interior.

Impressed by the oversized windows with crescent framework and arched interior doorways, Ms Culbert quietly stepped away from the group to peek into a smaller room off the main vaulted space. Her footsteps threw sound against the broad walls of cracked plaster as Mr Bartley noted different features inside the building.

Earlier that afternoon, a collection of town officials closely involved with Fairfield Hills had met in Ms Stocker’s office. Joining discussion over an early afternoon lunch were Ms Stocker, Land Use Director George Benson, grant-consultant Dick Eigen, Public Works Director Fred Hurley, Mr Bartley, Ms Paar, Ms Culbert, Fairfield Hills Authority Vice Chairman Andrew Willie, and First Selectman Joe Borst.