While a public survey gauging community opinions on developing a new community center will be available until midnight on October 10, a series of public question and answer sessions providing members of an appointed panel on the planned project a chance to hear residents’ opinions and thoughts are continuing.

The first two sessions have been held. Two more additional forums are planned for Tuesday, October 13, at 7 pm, at Newtown Senior Center, 14 Riverside Road; and Saturday, October 17, at 10 am, at C.H. Booth Library.

A growing number of residents are taking the survey, which is available by visiting ncccsurvey.com. 

Community Center Commission Co-Chair Andy Clure is encouraging all town residents to consider clicking on to take the eight-question poll.

Commission members are utilizing a number of ways — including the survey and the live Q&A sessions — to help understand the public’s opinion on what should be offered at a community center, which is now in planning stage following a $15 million grant from General Electric in the wake of 12/14.

“We would appreciate any and all feedback from Newtown residents.” Mr Clure said. “There are some broad questions, and there is also a part to write in what they would like to see.”

After surveys are complete, the commission will formulate its community center plan to present to the Board of Selectmen, who will make a final decision on plans for the facility and choose a referendum date for a public referendum to move forward spending the GE grant funds.

The Community Center Commission members would like to learn what types of activities residents want; whether there support for an aquatic center, an ice rink, or an arts venue; and what other elements the public would hope to be included in a community center plan.

Ultimately, as he and fellow commissioners said during the first Q&A session Thursday, September 24, all of these answers are ultimately up to residents.

Most questions are posed so that answers are rated on a scale, with 1 being the most important point for each question. Questions vary, with some having as many as six choices to rank and others having as few as three.

The survey’s answers are recorded anonymously.

Those taking the survey, powered by SurveyMonkey, have the option of sharing their age, gender, the number of people who reside in their home, whether they have any children living at home, and how long they have lived in town. All of those questions, placed at the beginning of the survey, are optional.

Residents can take the survey on their own computers, or visit C.H. Booth Library to use one of its electronic devices.

The GE grant was stipulated to provide $10 million for development and construction, with the balance devoted to a minimum of five years of operational programming, at $1 million per year. Parks and Recreation officials have since said that depending on the final plan, $5 million could underwrite staffing and operations for more than twice that long.

The GE Foundation has only stipulated that the money be used to create a facility that does not exist today, does not duplicate existing programs or services, and serves the needs of the entire community as best as possible.

Five Public Voices

Among the five different and distinct voices emerging from the first Q&A session were those supporting an aquatic center or swimming pool feature; those favoring an ice rink independent or in conjunction with a pool facility; those clamoring for a senior services component; and some hoping to include space for cultural arts activities and performances.

Then there was Stephanie Dunn, a 20-year town resident who summed up what a number of others at the forum seemed to want most in a community center.

“My dream, as a mother with small kids, was to have a place to go anytime, and without making any plans,” Ms Dunn said. “I just want a place to go where I can sit and talk without having to buy something.”

Curt Symes, chairman of the Commission on Aging, was joined by a number of others lamenting the fact that a senior component seems to have all but disappeared in the mix, despite the fact that he said seniors have been asking for new, expanded activity space and programming since 2003.

Mr Symes’s input was supported earlier in the session by Mary Hanlon, who said she attended the session to stand up for the needs of seniors. And she was not shy about asserting her opinion of a combined ice and pools complex.

“We can’t afford it,” Ms Hanlon said, adding, “Can seniors use the pool when they want it, or an ice rink? We need something that involves everybody.”

Another resident suggested following through with using the GE funds to build a standalone community center, and then consider adding ice, and/or a pool as later phases endorsed and funded by taxpayers if desired.

Others were worried that a large complex demanding a costly operations budget would require opening it up for regional use, squeezing available public time to limited increments and defeating the notion that the center is ultimately imagined as a place for community members to gather, socialize and celebrate the intent that resulted in the original GE grant.

A Self-Sustaining Model

To that end, several attendees were armed with thoughts and details on creating a self-sustaining complex that might be made available for rentals to visiting sports teams, and for regional or statewide hockey or swimming tournaments.

Kris Kenny said that the heat generated by ice making and refrigeration equipment could end up heating the pool and aquatic facility, saving in excess of $350,000 a year. A loose calculation of potential revenue for part-time rentals, he added, could produce more than $1.8 million in added cash revenue annually.

Mr Kenny added that supporters of an ice facility as a component of a larger community complex developed their own plans which address their ideal needs, as well as incorporating virtually all the community space that was part of an original aquatic/community center proposal that was deactivated earlier this year when opponents of the project began voicing concerns to elected officials.

Laura Lerman and several others in the audience expressed dismay over the survey, which they said has a lot of focus on swimming and ice elements, but only one question about cultural arts needs.

Tina Marsh, an ice rink supporter, countered that during the off season for ice use, a specially equipped rink could convert to a huge auditorium to host cultural arts performances as well as local school graduation ceremonies, saving taxpayers the costs to rent such facilities at Western Connecticut State University.

Another resident suggested the town combine a $10 million earmark in the local Capital Improvement Plan, which showcases large bonded community and school projects, with the GE funds to achieve a center that offers components for everyone.

Following the session, First Selectman Pat Llodra, who was in attendance for part of the Q&A, said that if that idea emerges from the commission as the highest and best use of the funds, there are no restrictions from GE that would prevent merging the $10 million gift with local taxpayer funded bonding for a much larger facility than originally planned.

“We know we have the $10 million to spend,” Mrs Llodra said. “If the highest, best thinking from the commission is to go larger, we need to try and find the money in the CIP. I don’t think it would be an issue by our donor to couple their money with other funds if the outcome serves the community interest.”

If that is the final outcome, the first selectman cautioned, “Any such notion would come under review at every government level.”