Another main piece of the Fairfield Hills skyline is gone: Danbury Hall this week is reduced to just rubble as Bestech crews work to separate and remove or reuse the debris. Ground-down concrete will fill the empty hollow where Danbury Hall once stood, making a home to then-state hospital staff.

Bestech crew member Fred Brace had set aside a few relics, as the building, less than two weeks after demolition began, sat in crumbling heaps behind him. Reaching into an open dumpster he found the broken wooden siding stamped with the original contractor’s information. It read, “Cabbadessa Bros. Inc Fairfeild [he noted the misspelling for Fairfield, joking that the sign was made before spell check] State Hospital Siding, Newtown, Conn.” Also within reach were some old brass doorknobs that he set aside.

After working to raze the building, he said he found its interior “magnificent,” with “exquisite detail.” He noted the degree of craftsmanship and the attention to detail in the construction. Of one piece of design in particular he said, “Too bad it got crushed, I almost wept at that one.” He then described a “beautiful call center,” or the switchboard where calls would manually be put through to the various rooms. The operator could buzz any of the rooms, he said.

Noting the areas where entrances had been, Mr Brace said they had “beautiful doorways.” Sidelights above and alongside main doors were made of leaded glass.

Turning from the ruined building, and glancing across a soccer field where remaining buildings stand, he pointed out their architecture. “What possessed people to put such time and money into the cupolas, they’re works of art.”

Stone, concrete, brick, and metal were standing in separate piles as the last of Danbury Halls foundation and main steps remained. Pointing to rebar twisting from chunks of concrete, he said machinery would crush the stone and remove the rebar, while another machine would grind down the concrete into three-inch pieces.

In late September, residents driving along Wasserman Way would have seen the demolition begin. According to Christal Preszler with the Newtown Planning Department, that week, the wood was being stripped from the building, and quickly, the corner of Trades Lane and Wasserman Way at the Fairfield Hills main entrance offered a clear view of soccer fields and a walking path previously blocked by the early 1930s brick structure.

Noted in her research as the campus’s “most fascinating” building, resident Andrea Zimmermann, one year ago, had submitted a report to the town, a 39-page narrative and photographs of buildings, including Danbury Hall.

The building, which sat to the east of Trades Lane when entering the campus through its main entrance off Wasserman Way, had been constructed to house male staff. Ms Zimmermann had said that Danbury Hall was “built for economy of living. It’s interesting to me to think about adults living in these places — especially Danbury Hall, which is akin to a college dorm. Life on campus seemed to demand a communal existence.”

Her research states that “Danbury Hall is among the 16 primary structures built in the early 1930s.”

The price tag for complete abatement and removal of Danbury Hall is $511,000. 

The town in 2001 purchased more than 180 acres of Fairfield Hills from the state, which included the many former state hospital buildings. Plans to revitalize the campus, bring in economic growth, recreation, and municipal uses have included the demolition of structures that could not be reused. Danbury Hall is among a handful of buildings to come down. The removal several years ago of other buildings made room for the NYA Sports & Fitness Center and a new baseball field.

Learn more about the history of Fairfield Hills at FairfieldHills.org, which will also link readers to information about the campus’s master plan for reuse.