Tearing Down Fairfield House

By Kendra Bobowick

With portions of its roof missing and the front walls peeled away to expose the building’s interior, Fairfield House sat amid the sounds of rumbling machinery as demolition began on the first day of August.

“The biggest obstacle in the way of a [baseball] field is this building,” said O&G Industries, Inc Project Manager David Cravanzola. A much-anticipated 90-foot baseball diamond situated where Fairfield House stands is the first new feature reshaping the former state hospital grounds as part of its redevelopment. Fairfield Hills Authority members want the field seeded by the end of next month so players can stand over home plate by the fall of 2008.

Unforeseen delays emerged, however, as brick and concrete disappeared from the structure. Mr Cravanzola explained that crews would need to remove asbestos piping. “It must all be out before we take down the building,” he said.

The discovery will add several days to the work schedule, which has little room for error.

“We are going to work overtime; there is no buffer and it’s tight to begin with,” Mr Cravanzola explained.

Last week as men in hardhats from Standard Demolition Services of Trumbull went to work on the building and workers from Nagy Brothers Construction of Monroe worked with what grounds they could in preparation for the 90-foot baseball field, both men and machinery moved through the transforming site. Looking through the raised dust clouds and pointing toward other empty and crumbling buildings, Mr Cravanzola noted that Fairfield House, the first of several buildings slated to fall in the 1930s complex, will essentially be a guinea pig for coming demolition.

“It will give us an idea of what is in other buildings,” he said. With some good news, he explained, “The process will only get easier as we go along.”

Taking the safest approach to the demolition, the building will be deconstructed in segments from one end to the other.

Although “every building comes down differently,” he said, the method to the demolition is clear. “We’re separating material — trash, recycle, brick, concrete,” said Mr Cravanzola. “We’re trying to determine how to get the building down in the shortest period of time. We could just smash the building, but we’re saving time taking it down orderly rather than debris piling up to pick through.” As the building is completely removed within coming days, the baseball field will take shape.