A New Name And Familiar Decoration Adorn Bridgeport Hall

By Kendra Bobowick

“What do you want to call it?” asked Selectman Paul Mangiafico.

“I suggest the Newtown Municipal Center,” said First Selectman Joe Borst. Selectman Herb Rosenthal agreed. At 9:50 Monday night the selectmen renamed Bridgeport Hall that sits in the heart of Fairfield Hills to reflect its new function: serving as a municipal hub for Newtown.

Relocating to the renovated brick building in the fall will be town offices from the Kendro Building on Peck’s Lane and the Edmond Town Hall — among them, offices of the Board of Education, the land use agencies, town clerk, tax assessor, and tax collector. Built into the new town and education departments’ offices are meeting spaces, vaults for storage, and an overall centralized government, reestablished in a refurbished former state hospital building.

With selectmen Monday already thinking about dedication ceremonies for October/November to follow the final move at that time, the new municipal center would see one of its final details put into place the next day. A weathervane retrieved from Greenwich House, torn down earlier this year to make way for parking and landscaped lawns, has been waiting in storage. Tuesday it dangled from the end of the ladder extending from Newtown Hook & Ladder Company’s ladder truck.

Rolling through loosened soil now smoothed over following recent excavation, and maneuvering between fresh laid concrete curbing, Assistant Chief Ray Corbo parked the ladder truck alongside new municipal center. He stepped down to meet with Chief Jason Rivera and Chief Engineer Rob Manna, also of LRM Landscaping, and soon all three men would see a view of Newtown from the ladder bucket hovering over the building’s cupola.

On the ground, Juan Bonilla and Joe Carnelli of Eastern Energy Services added last-minute touches to the weathervane that soon would stand upright and catch breezes moving through the parklike grounds.

With a glance toward Mr Manna, who will also be completing curbing and sidewalks on campus, and likely recalling the selectmen’s choice of names for the Newtown Municipal Center, Public Works Director Fred Hurley said, “We really are that close” to returning the bustle of business and activity to the campus since the state shut down its psychiatric hospital in the late 1990s.

The weathervane that once topped Greenwich House has found a new home, a way of “saving the flavor of what the buildings were,” Mr Hurley said. “There was some distinctive work.”

Positioning a surveyors’ transit, Assistant Town Engineer David Bratz located north, south, east, and west. At the same time, Mr Corbo downloaded a compass to his phone. As of 3 pm Tuesday, the weathervane’s directionals were lined up accurately.

Amused, Mr Hurley said that normally a sapling is secured atop new construction. “[Bridgeport Hall] isn’t as majestic as a skyscraper, but it’s our topping-off ceremony.” From their spot on the ground, squinting toward firefighters settling the weathervane into place, Mr Hurley and Mr Bratz noted that normally, a “little party” takes place. “This is as close as we’ll come to that,” Mr Hurley said.

Minutes earlier, Mr Bonilla had finished with the weathervane, then the men secured it to the end of the lowered ladder used to reach the cupola. Before they could drop it in place, however, Mr Corbo and Mr Rivera climbed the ladder to prepare the site. Mr Rivera returned to the ground with a worn and rusted fragment that had been in the way. Soon, Mr Corbo and his son Joey stood at the ladder’s motion controls. Above them, Mr Manna and Mr Rivera worked to position and secure the weathervane.

Also watching as the weathervane went up were Clerk of the Works Bill Knight, O&G Industries Inc Safety Officer Thomas Hunter, Deputy Fire Marshall Rich Frampton, and O&G personnel.

As a formal dedication date for the building approaches, one ceremony already has taken place. A few yards away and nearer to the front entrance to Fairfield Hills is a green and flagpole on a strip between Woodbury Hall and Newtown Hall. Through a $25,000 donation from the Rotary Club of Newtown and grant funds, a sitting area, landscaping, park benches, lawn, and flagpole are now in place. A formal ceremony open to the public will take place at a future date.

Piece by piece, the Fairfield Hills buildings and grounds are changing shape as plans for reuse continue. Also last week, Fairfield Hills Authority Chairman Bob Geckle confirmed that plans to sign a lease for a veterinary facility at Woodbury Hall are still moving forward.