"Isn't this exciting?" exclaimed Community Center Committee Chairman Kinga Walsh, stepping from her car and pausing to stare at the bones of a new building rising from the concrete pad, which defines the footprint of the new community center and senior center structure at Fairfield Hills. The committee Tuesday evening elected Ms Walsh as chairman.

Beam by steel beam, the community center skeleton took shape Tuesday morning, July 10. With Caldwell & Walsh Building Construction Inc Project Superintendent Salvatore V. Spadaro Tuesday afternoon were Ms Walsh and the facility's new director, Matthew Ariniello.

Walking the site, they pointed to the outline of the senior center component. Adjacent to it was the steel outlining what will be art rooms, classrooms, and more at the community center.

The steel is opposite central cinder block walls between the senior and community center space where locker rooms off of a pool area will stand. Beyond the locker rooms, Mr Spadaro stepped down toward a large depression, explaining that the pool will be in that location.

Steel arrived on-site Monday, when crews began installation.

"The amount of steel that went up was amazing," Mr Ariniello said during Tuesday's site walk.

The Newtown Community Center & Senior Center project is "big," said Mr Ariniello, who walked across the concrete and around the site where in approximately a year's time, residents will fill its walls. Surrounding the building Tuesday were several machines moving and grading the earth as Mr Spadaro noted the dwindling mounds of soil displaced by construction.

Watching steel beams settle into place, lifted and moved by crane, Mr Ariniello said, "The room for opportunity is abundant," as he anticipates activities taking place there.

As drivers bustled past the site sitting across form the Municipal Center, just yards away from the NYA Sports and Fitness Center, he suspected the steel would draw attention. "People get excited when things start to take shape," he said.

June of 2019 is the building's projected opening.

As a result of months of research and resident input, the new 45,860-square-foot building will include separate community center and senior center areas.

The community center's facilities, totaling approximately 35,210 square feet, will meet the needs of many, if not most, residents and will include a dedicated arts and crafts room, six multipurpose activity rooms to accommodate activities ranging from music to group gatherings, along with a commercial kitchen, an approximately 5,000 square foot banquet room, a six-lane 25-yard pool, a zero-entry activity pool, and outdoor connections to the surrounding area of the Fairfield Hills campus.

The separate senior center, representing 9,450 square feet and allowing the seniors to move out of their current space in Sandy Hook, will cater to seniors' programs and activities and strive to enhance and expand the current program offerings.

The project is funded through a 2013 gift from the GE Foundation of $15 million for the development, construction, and operation of a community center. From GE is $10 million to design and build and another $5 million to underwrite at least five years of operating expenses.

The town is bonding an additional $5 million approved in the year's Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) to supplement the initial $10 million capital gift. Another $3 million of CIP money is funding the senior center.