Danbury Hall’s days are dwindling. With big machines at rest around its perimeter, demolition could begin as soon as Monday, September 29, confirmed Christal Preszler with the Newtown Planning Department. This week, the wood was being stripped from the building, she said. Bestech is the demolition contractor.

Soon, the corner of Trades Lane and Wasserman Way at the Fairfield Hills main entrance will offer a clear view of soccer fields and a waking path now blocked by the 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 Danbury Hall and the single-family homes.

The building, which sits to the east of Trades Lane when entering the campus through its main en-trance off Wasserman Way, was built in the early 30s for male staff. Ms Zimmermann had said, “Both Danbury Hall and the houses were 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 cam-pus seemed to demand a communal existence.”

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

Initially, Danbury Hall demolition was supposed to be part of a larger project to include razing the eight single-family former staff homes, but earlier this summer, the project funds were refocused just on Danbury. The price tag for complete abatement and removal of Danbury Hall is $511,000, according to First Selectmen Pat Llodra’s documentation. 

In early August, Board of Finance and Legislative Council members approved adding funds to a previously approved bonding authorization. Mrs Llodra explained to the finance board that scattered concentrations of asbestos discovered as demolition crews chewed away at both locations was extensive.

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.