Newtown Takes Ownership Of Fairfield Hills

By John Voket

With whispered shuffling and the nearly imperceptible scratching of pen on paper, the community entered into a historic agreement last July 30 as legal representatives inked the transfer of more than 257 acres of property from the State of Connecticut to the Town of Newtown. The agreement was formally announced via a press release issued by First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal.

“This culminates a very lengthy and intense period of negotiations with various state agencies,” Mr Rosenthal declared through the release. The first selectman had already completed his required participation in the transfer process last week, as he handed a phone book-sized raft of signed documents off to town legal representatives, who then shepherded the forms through necessary channels to complete the transaction.

Last Friday morning, all the necessary elements were satisfactorily in place to declare the transaction closed. An attorney representing Newtown appeared at the town clerk’s office at 8 am on Monday morning to quietly sign all the property documentation into the town’s records. The final stages seemed almost anticlimactic compared to the process of acquiring the various parcels that added up to 257.516 acres, according to a copy of the deed.

State Representative Julia Wasserman, who played a crucial role throughout the consideration and negotiation process, told The Bee she distinctly recalled one morning in the fall of 1991, when she realized the community she served would soon be faced with one of the most important and potentially costly decisions in its nearly three-century history.

“I woke up in a cold sweat, because I new Fairfield Hills was downsizing and I realized that it was probably in the process of being closed,” Mrs Wasserman said.

She remembers contacting state mental health officials who confirmed their mission to transfer many patients from the rolling hills of Newtown to the Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown. She was told the rest of the patients would be transitioned to community-based residences and group homes.

Within a month Mrs Wasserman worked to assemble a committee to study the future use of the campus.

“That committee was staffed by many very qualified and knowledgeable people including representatives from the hospital, the state Office of Policy and Management, and the Department of Mental Health [now called the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services],” Mrs Wasserman said. “We were very lucky to have the energy of Richard Nuklo from the OPM, and [former state] Senator Ted Lovegrove, who was a strong backer and collaborator.”

Mrs Wasserman said from the onset, she wanted to see as much of the facility as possible returned to the hands of Newtowners, an eventuality that would finally be realized nearly 13 years later.

The total acreage that was transferred to Newtown last Friday includes the approximately 185 acres that is commonly referred to as the main campus. Since its vacancy, that parcel and the many buildings on it have attracted thousands of people to its green fields, rolling meadow, and hilltop reservoir.

The campus remains a popular destination for recreational users, dog walkers, cyclists, and those conducting town business in one of the many municipal offices located in the Canaan House, or attending the popular library benefit book sale in Bridgeport Hall each Labor Day weekend.

On the down side, town officials say the filming of the Barry Levinson picture Sleepers in 1996, and more recently, an MTV installment of the paranormal series Fear have contributed to attracting nocturnal trespassers seeking to walk the buildings’ darkened halls, underground tunnels, laboratory, and morgue. Town leaders hope to stem these unlawful visits through the implementation of various new security measures.

Separate Parcels Transferred

In addition to the main campus parcel, the deed reflects a 21.66-acre parcel along Deep Brook, a 37.54-acre economic development parcel, five parcels along Mile Hill South totaling 6.3 acres. Other transfers in the deed include 3.132 acres called the Laundry/Firehouse parcel, and a 3.884-acre parcel adjacent to Mile Hill Road and Oakview Drive.

To date, numerous studies and reports have been generated, along with three proposals early on in the negotiation process that encompassed a mixed-use development on part of the property incorporating residential, professional, and commercial uses.

More recently, an ad-hoc management committee was appointed to begin the arduous process of administering management and security practices. Just hours prior to the closing, members of that committee were meeting on the campus, approving new security practices and ratifying by laws governing the committee’s practices.

The ad hoc management committee will continue to adjust its practices and scope of responsibility in the coming months, as a master plan for the campus’s use is finalized. Once the master plan is approved by the town Planning and Zoning Commission, development, including installation of permanent security gating, demolition, and redevelopment — the extent of which has yet to be determined — can commence.

The release confirms an earlier report that town officials are planning a formal ceremony to mark the Fairfield Hills transfer in the weeks to come. According to Mr Rosenthal, residents are welcome to enjoy the grounds during a dawn to dusk timeframe, until such a time that further restrictions are applied to close areas of the campus for building demolition and environmental cleanup.