To the Editor:

There's something rotten in the state of Newtown and it smells like the community center.

After two years of legislative tinkering and much hemming and hawing, the community center design - unveiled at this week's Board of Selectmen's meeting - is essentially the same design that Newtowners rejected two years ago - a giant Olympic pool and a senior center.

The community center cost is now ballooning to an estimated $18 million - about half of which will be covered by the generous GE gift of $15 million following the Sandy Hook tragedy ($5 million is reserved for the first five years of operating costs). So that means the townspeople are now paying $5 million for the community center portion and $3 million for the senior center portion to make up the difference.

The town has already spent $1.4 million on the initial design that was scrapped two years ago.

It is certainly hard to stomach watching the town bungle a $15 million gift. But money aside - the intent of the GE gift is being betrayed.

GE wanted to give Newtown residents a central building to join together in good times and bad. First Selectmen Pat Llodra told GE that a community center would be the best gift they could give Newtown through their donation.

How an Olympic-size pool, administrative offices, eight multipurpose rooms, and a huge senior center space fills our community center needs confounds me. The pool - slated for four lanes last week and six lanes this week - is ever-changing in scope and price. There is still pressure in town to make the pool eight lanes hoping it will bring in revenue from regional swimming competitions. However, there is no guarantee of this revenue, and maintenance costs would be extreme. News reports this week showed a similar Olympic town pool in Norwalk shutting down due to lack of use.

The proposed pool in Newtown has unwisely been placed as the cornerstone to this project. It is also unclear why a new senior center - which is indeed greatly needed in town - has been tied so tightly to the community center project and the GE money.

I grew up in Newtown and would love to see a community center that truly brings us together. Is this design really serving the needs of families with young children, teenagers, seniors, and others?

Where is the technology room, reading room, inside playscape for young children, and gymnasium or fitness room? Avoiding the replication of offerings at the Newtown Youth Academy should not be a consideration of legislators since the NYA is not a municipal building nor is it a free facility to residents.

In another disappointing twist, Newtown residents will need to pay a fee to use the planned community center - apparently this is true even for the first five years that GE gave $5 million to cover operating costs. I guess pool water is expensive.

Rebecca Carnes

150A Hanover Road, Newtown         May 24, 2017