Bank Will Enhance

Sandy Hook

To the Editor:

“The Center of Sandy Hook is absolutely charming.” I agree and I am writing in response to a few letters to the editor regarding the planned commercial development in Sandy Hook. As anyone might guess, I like the design of the new commercial building. I believe it accommodates the needs of modern-day banking and business while remaining loyal to the architectural history of commerce in Sandy Hook.

In designing the building, we selected two outstanding firms — Antinozzi Associates (architects) and Caldwell & Walsh, who built our Main Office complex. They guided us through the appropriate steps for the applications before the town’s architectural review, Inland Wetlands Commission, and P&Z, all of whom approved the application. Most of these processes provided opportunities for public comment.

Throughout this process, there were certainly many people who liked the design of the proposed building. It attempts to tie together an architectural design presently in the Sandy Hook Center that obviously was part of Sandy Hook’s long history, although Sandy Hook Center presently has disparate collection of architectural designs. Another focus of ours was to have a building that represents strength, durability, and the capacity for long existence. This, we feel, is consistent with our mission to keep the same name on our door for many years to come.

This project will be completed with character, grace, and charm. The building and landscaping design will be a true asset to our community. It is unfortunate that a photo of an architectural rendering doesn’t depict well, both in architectural detail and scale. The photograph in The Newtown Bee [August 13] truly portrays a building that would appear to be totally out of scale with the rest of the neighborhood. In fact, this building is smaller than some of the newly constructed buildings in the area as well as many of the homes in Newtown. I truly believe that once built, most will see this project as a true enhancement to the center.

John F. Trentacosta

President & CEO Newtown Savings Bank

Resident of Sandy Hook

39 Main Street, Newtown                                            August 24, 2010