2008 Brought A New Sports And Fitness Facility To Fairfield Hills

By Kendra Bobowick

The first whispers of a new indoor recreation facility entered conversations in March 2007 when resident Peter D’Amico’s offer had everyone talking.

The business owner also of SCB office park and Bulk Materials International had offered to finance and build a facility that would create indoor exercise and sports space for the town. Mr D’Amico contacted officials regarding these intentions, and as soon as he broke ground months later, people gathered to watch the walls and building swiftly take shape. As the calendar flipped through the months of 2008, a spring groundbreaking soon led to a grand opening in November.

Just three months after the groundbreaking, The Newtown Bee heard from Mr D’Amico again. As the summer grew warmer, his plans progressed. The sports complex would soon be reshaping the landscape at Fairfield Hills as he came closer to achieving his long-held desire to create recreation space for the town’s youth and families. He had said, “Maybe we can move forward and enjoy it.” Soon after speaking those words, he personally financed “moving forward” into what is now a bustling center for exercise, team sports, personal training, and more.

He entered a good faith agreement with the town and Fairfield Hills Authority during the last week of May. The town made land available at Fairfield Hills while he personally financed the sports complex, including the demolition of Bridgewater House. The former state hospital building was among the properties slated to be razed.

At the time he had said he was financially “in a position to make this happen.” And, he wanted the complex to happen quickly. Choosing a specific date to keep plans on track, Mr D’Amico explained, “Without a target, things get delayed and delayed…” but the youth academy at all times was directly on course, and saw a grand opening as planned on November 1.

Running through the months of 2007, Mr D’Amico quickly had blueprints and approvals from town boards, including selectmen and Planning and Zoning, and come January 2008, he broke ground. During the first month of this year a flurry of hard work filled the back corner of Fairfield Hills. Spray painted at eye level across the crumbling brick face of Bridgewater House was the word “Demo,” which is exactly what happened to the old hospital building as backhoe operators pulled down the walls. Once the space was clear, the new Newtown Youth Academy began to fill the space.

As crews removed the last pieces of Bridgewater House, Mr D’Amico soon commenced construction of his academy during a groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday, January 26. Since late 2007 and into the first days of 2008, heavy machinery had been putting into action the plans he had for the sports facility. As the winter chill of early 2007 drifted into the warmer month of May, the walls were going up, literally. “It’s getting to the exciting part now,” he said at the time, hours away from watching a crane tilt up a poured-in-place, brick and concrete wall as his family and others jostled for a better view in a crowd of more than 50 onlookers.

Among them were Claris Construction Inc architect Philip Clark, who watched Claris crews working the slab walls into place. Also standing witness were business associates, officials including First Selectman Joe Borst, and Fairfield Hills Authority Chairman Robert Geckle. Describing how quickly people would see a change in the Fairfield Hills skyline, Mr Clark had made a prediction that, of course, turned out to be true. “One day you’ll drive by and there will be a huge building standing there,” he said. As August approached, the roughly 89,000-square-foot Newtown Youth Academy added its nearly complete silhouetted to the Fairfield Hills. “We move fast,” said Mr D’Amico.

The building fit right in, surrounded by nearly 80-year-old former state hospital buildings at Fairfield Hills. By October the Newtown Youth Academy had settled regally into the sloping grounds with its brick façade, white columns supporting a balcony that overhangs the entrance, and sweeping indoor playing fields. Inside were the sounds of power tools and workers scuffling across unfinished floors as they installed last-minute touches before the grand opening.

Uttering another prediction that soon came true, youth academy director Keith Miller said then, “The next step is to fill it, to hear kids playing; that’s what it’s for.” The doors officially swing open for a glimpse of the indoor sports complex on November 1. The first weekend of that month found Mr D’Amico with his wife, children, friends, and supporters mingling with town officials and residents eager to get a look inside the new facility. With both sentimental and encouraging words, Mr D’Amico and others addressed those gathered before taking the oversized scissors in hand and sliced the ribbing barring the entrance to the academy. The facility soon filled with onlookers.

“I wanted to give back,” Mr D’Amico had said throughout the complex’s construction. And he did. As the door quietly shut on 2008, the memberships and gym and field space at the academy were filled day after day.