Full Text:

A Sight For Sore Eyes

(with photos)

BY STEVE BIGHAM

The unsightly former Highway Cleaners building on Church Hill Road came

crashing down Tuesday morning, 11 years after being destroyed by fire.

DGR Contractors razed the building, which is owned by the Trudeau family of

Newtown. No longer will the wooden shell of a structure greet those exiting

Interstate 84 at Exit 10.

"I'm happy to be able to cooperate with the town," said Bill Trudeau, Jr, as

he watched the building come down. "This has been an eyesore for so long. I

know a lot of people in Newtown will be happy to see this building gone."

Mr Trudeau stopped by the office of First Selectman Herb Rosenthal nearly a

month ago to announce his plans to knock down the vacant building. Mr Trudeau,

owner of the Trudeau Service Station on South Main Street, purchased the

building from Lou Richards just a day before it went up in flames back in

1987. A misunderstanding over local regulations was apparently what delayed

the building's demolition.

"He said he waited so long to take it down because he feared he would not be

able to rebuild there," Mr Rosenthal said. "He has no time commitment to

rebuild on the property."

Mr Rosenthal said he was delighted to see the building finally come down. It

was one of the handful of dilapidated buildings around town he had targeted

during his campaign last year. He vowed to have these "eyesores" removed

before he left office.

Two other buildings in the center of town, often mentioned as lingering

"eyesores" are being re-painted this week. Both Town Hall South and the old

gas station on Church Hill Road near the intersection with Queen Street have

received fresh coats of paint.

The gas station is currently owned by Earnest Wiehl of Pepper Partners Limited

Partnership, which has been reluctant to sell the choice piece of commercial

property. Developer Joe Kasper, Jr has expressed interest in purchasing the

property for an access way into the Newtown Shopping Center.

"We're still working with Mr Wiehl," the first selectman said.

Interested Buyers

The Highway Cleaners building came down in a cloud of dust at about 9:25 am as

a handful of bystanders stood nearby. Mr Trudeau said he has had several

interested buyers contact him, including McDonald's restaurant. For now,

however, he simply wants to turn the area into something positive. Lexington

Gardens is expected to adopt the area and to put in some plantings along with

a "Welcome to Newtown" sign.

Health Director Mark Cooper, Building Inspector Tom Paternoster and Public

Works Director Fred Hurley all inspected the building prior to its demolition

to make sure no hazardous materials were inside. Mr Trudeau said he had

previously removed old cars and batteries from the property and had taken out

barrels of cleaning fluid.

"Way back, the property used to be used to junk old cars. Bill got rid of all

that stuff," said Mr Rosenthal, crediting Mr Trudeau for his willingness to go

forward with the demolition.

Mr Trudeau, who said he has received some bad publicity in the past for his

business dealings, is hoping to improve his image. "I'm happy to be doing

this," he said.

Mr Trudeau said he purchased the 1.1-acre property on a Thursday, left town on

a skiing trip that weekend, and came back to find the building still

smoldering from the fire. He had originally planned to build his service

station at the site of the Highway Cleaners. However, the Parker property on

South Main Street became available at about the same time.