Date: Fri 10-Jul-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

edink-Fairfield-Hills

Full Text:

ED INK: Should The Town Buy Fairfield Hills?

When viewed against the backdrop of the continuing rush to develop prime real

estate in Newtown, the state's current effort to market the 185-acre core

campus of Fairfield Hills looks like an opportunity for someone with some good

ideas and initiative. The open land and buildings are in a central location

just off Interstate 84, they afford terrific views of the surrounding

countryside, and they are protected by a sprawl of 300 acres now under the

control of the Department of Agriculture. At some point, Newtown's leaders

will have to consider whether this opportunity should fall to the town or to

the private sector.

Last week, three key players in the evolution of Fairfield Hills -- Richard

Nuclo of the state's Office of Policy and Management, state Representative

Julia Wasserman, and First Selectman Herb Rosenthal -- broached the topic of a

possible town purchase of the main campus and property at Fairfield Hills. As

Mrs Wasserman pointed out, such talk is "all conjecture; it's premature." The

most interesting part of this "premature" discussion was the price range for

the purchase of the land and scores of buildings at the site. Mrs Wasserman

speculated, without contradiction from Mr Nuclo or Mr Rosenthal, that the town

could probably acquire the core campus at Fairfield Hills for less than $10

million. Depending on the amount of asbestos removal taken on by the town, the

price could be as low as $1-2 million.

These prices were an eye-opener, especially when taken in the context of the

recent projection by the Board of Education that it will cost $22 million to

create a school on the Watertown Hall property at Fairfield Hills already

owned by the town. But would a town purchase of Fairfield Hills really be such

a good deal?

The town certainly does not have enough public officials or agencies to fill

the site itself, and given that immutable law of politics -- that government

cannot resist filling a vacuum -- we don't want local government to have that

much space at its disposal.

As Mr Rosenthal pointed out, a town purchase of Fairfield Hills would put

Newtown into the real estate business with the same responsibilities and

pressures the state is currently feeling to unload the vacant property and

return it to productive use. Simply maintaining the million square feet of

enclosed space at Fairfield Hills is costing the state $1 million to $1.5

million annually. Any member of the Legislative Council can tell you that

Newtown doesn't have that kind of spare change lying around.

Perhaps the best course for Newtown is to use its right of first refusal on

the Fairfield Hills property as an option of last resort in the unlikely event

that the state's marketing effort yields some disastrous, unacceptable use of

the property -- a Six Flags Over Newtown theme park, for example.

Notwithstanding the tempting price, it would be best for Newtown to leave all

the headaches of marketing Fairfield Hills to the state, where they belong.