"Disappointing," was the initial reaction from members of the Community Center Advisory Committee when they heard from consulting firm Sports Facilities Advisory (SFA) on August 22 that rather than a center with a pool and multipurpose space that could support itself, the envisioned center funded by a GE gift would eventually become a financial burden on the residents of Newtown. Their discouragement is reflected by others in town, who wonder how projections by the Community Center Commission on a sustainable community center could have been so off-course from the projections of an experienced consulting firm.

In April, residents gave an "aye" vote to the referendum question "Shall the $14,550,000 special appropriation and $5,000,000 bond authorization for the planning, design, and construction of a New Community Center be approved?" trusting that the volatile community forums in late winter and careful work by the commission had come to an affordable compromise. The vote did not determine a final design or programming, but rather gave the go-ahead on a concept, a point that may be confusing to some.

Alas, just as the hard work of the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Committee has yet to result in a site or plan for a memorial to 12/14; just as many plans for revitalization of buildings on the Fairfield Hills Campus stall; just as a standalone Newtown Senior Center has failed to materialize; the gift of $15 million from GE to the Town of Newtown continues be a challenge in bringing the community together.

At a subsequent September 1 conference with SFA, the advisory committee provided a series of questions for SFA to further consider, recognizing that there is still a ways to go in both planning and firming up financial estimates before the SFA draft report and any community center plans are finalized.

As with many large projects, it is wise to take a step back in order to assess what will benefit residents of today and tomorrow. To practice patience in the face of an anxious public is not easy, but it is to the credit of those involved in prior and current community center planning that they are willing to see where their numbers and the numbers SFA has presented are not compatible - and address that issue to see that what is eventually built will be in the best interest of all of Newtown's citizens.

What is as disappointing as any feasibility study out of sync with numbers that tout the creation of a self-sustaining facility is the eagerness of some to criticize the work of those trying to make the best of this challenge.

This gift GE has bestowed on the town is a matter that is elusive in scope and price; there is no indication that friends and neighbors who have volunteered to take this on have been less than conscientious in the undertaking.

A community center can bring people together to celebrate the diversity of ideas and talents that make up a town. Take a deep breath, and pause.

When they build it, we will come.