Date: Fri 12-Jun-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Kaestle-Boos-office-space

Full Text:

Architect Selected To Study Town's Office Space Needs

BY STEVE BIGHAM

Kaestle Boos Architects, Inc has been selected to conduct the town's

long-awaited municipal space needs study. While smaller than most projects the

firm takes on, this particular study has far-reaching importance to the town.

It is hoped the study will finally give direction to the town's efforts to

find more office space.

The New Britain architectural firm is not unfamiliar to town officials.

Kaestle Boos headed the town's design work for the $28 million high school

project, and a few months back, it was retained to do a preliminary cost study

for the recently proposed $22 million fifth- and sixth-grade school.

In what one member of the Legislative Council termed "an emergency situation,"

many of the town employees have been working at Canaan House at Fairfield

Hills since being evacuated from Town Hall South nearly 16 months ago. The

town's two-year lease with the state runs out in February. Also, last week's

discovery of a weakened floor at Newtown Hook & Ladder firehouse behind Edmond

Town Hall has added to the urgency of the study.

"The importance of this study is that it affects everyone in town," explained

Selectman Bill Brimmer, who headed the town's Municipal Space Needs Committee.

"There isn't a person in the population that will not be affected by this. The

town offices are hurting for space and the entire town is growing."

The cost of the study is still under negotiation.

The two other architectural firms who had been considered for the job were the

Kasper Group and DeCarlo & Dell.

"All three firms were excellent and it was a hard decision, but our final

decision was predicated on Kaestle Boos' familiarity with the history of the

town and the good work that it has done," Mr Brimmer said. "It has a lot of

experience designing municipal buildings."

As part of the study, Kaestle Boos will talk to both town and school

departments, 21 in all, to ascertain what their current and future space needs

are. Kaestle Boos will also look at Edmond Town Hall, the Hook & Ladder

firehouse, Town Hall South and Watertown Hall to determine how each building

fits into the town's overall plan. Throughout the process, the architects will

sit down with town officials to discuss the various options.

Once the Kaestle Boos selection is approved by the Legislative Council,

architects will have 120 days to finish their study.

There is still the possibility that employees will be moved back to Town Hall

South where many of the leaks in the building have been plugged. First

Selectman Herb Rosenthal is also considering a lease of the former Gordon

Frasier building on South Main Street. But there are other possibilities,

including the construction of an annex behind Edmond Town Hall, which would

include the renovation of the Hook & Ladder firehouse. R. Scudder Smith,

publisher of the The Newtown Bee, has also notified the town that the property

at the corner of Main and Sugar streets is still for sale.

"This study will finally tell us `OK, this is what we should do,'" Mr Brimmer

said.

The study was supposed to start a year ago when the administration of former

First Selectman Bob Cascella hired Antinozzi Associates of Stratford. However,

several residents recalled that firm's alleged poor handling of a study it did

for the state as it tried to find a site for a new prison. Inaccuracies in the

report led to the Garner Correctional Facility being built in Newtown.

Consequently, Antinozzi was never hired for the office space study.

"This space needs study was initiated last year and we should have had this

going a long time ago," said Mr Brimmer. "Maybe it would have avoided some of

the things that are going on now."

In addition to Mr Brimmer, the space needs committee included Carole Ross, Bob

Hall, Ron Bolmer, Peg Daley, Chuck Nanavaty and David Valerie.