Around Town

PHOTOS: Village Fair & Sidewalk Sale Held Downtown Saturday

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Hundreds of bargain-hunters crowded into the heart of downtown New Canaan on Saturday for the Chamber of Commerce’s popular Village Fair & Sidewalk Sale. 

Parts of Elm, Main and Forest Streets were closed to vehicular traffic on a comfortably sunny day. “We are thrilled at all the organizations that have come out, all the vendors and—most importantly—all the shoppers who seem to be enjoying the bargains,” said Laura Budd, the Chamber’s executive director. “And we’re very blessed with the weather.”

Dr. Elle de Moll of Elite Dermatology Physicians participated in her first Sidewalk Sale as a business owner, with a booth set up on Elm Street. “We’ve had a great day meeting people and talking about what we do,” de Moll said. Across the street, the Connecticut Stage Company also was participating in its first-ever Sidewalk Sale, co-founders Lorah Haskins and Kate Simone said.

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Man, 48, Charged After Bringing Firearm to Church Service at NCHS

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Police on Sunday arrested a 48-year-old Stratford man who brought a firearm to a church service held at New Canaan High School. At about 9:20 a.m. on July 13, officers working security at NCHS for Grace Church were approached by a representative of the church regarding a person they said was acting suspicious and possibly carrying a firearm, according to a police report. The church rep pointed out the man to New Canaan Police, the report said. As he entered the building, officers noticed a bulge in the small of his back underneath his shirt, it said. He admitted to carrying a firearm when police talked to him, it said. 

He was charged with possession of a weapon on school grounds, a felony offense.

Board of Selectmen

Town: Irwin House Demolition on Track for Late-August/September

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Irwin House is expected to be demolished in late-August or September, officials said last week. Located in the Weed Street park of the same name, the brick Irwin House was built between 1961 and 1963 after the original 1920’s shingle-style house—once owned by IBM founder Thomas Watson, Sr.—burned down in a fire. Noting that the structure needs an estimated $1.3 million in exterior work alone, town officials publicly discussed the prospect of demolishing Irwin House during this year’s budget process. The Board of Selectmen in April approved a $58,000 contract with an environmental services firm to find out what hazardous materials are inside Irwin House, and advise on how best to get rid of them so the full demo can go forward. 

During the July 8 Board of Selectmen meeting, Public Works Director Tiger Mann said that the town “got the initial environmental assessment back” and that DPW is “still working on the specifications.”

“And once that comes in, then we’ll get a good feel as to our number for environmental,” Mann told the selectmen during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “Then we’ll go out to bid and look to get the people that are there currently out and housed where they need and take the building down some time in late-August-September-ish.”

Specifically, work must be done at Irwin Barn, he said (a separate structure that is not under threat of demolition). 

“We’ve already done some work at Irwin Barn as far as the waste and water lines, to be able to then relocate Butch, our maintenance man, from the garage to the Irwin Barn and give him a palace where he can wash his hands and go to the bathroom,” Mann said.

Business

Proposed Hotel Property Sells for $8.7 Million

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The downtown property where a 40-room hotel has been proposed sold this month for $8.7 million, according to a property transfer recorded July 2 in the Town Clerk’s office. Already identified as the “contractor purchaser” of 39 and 49-51 Locust Ave., the new ownership company—called Two Corners LLC—is headed by New Canaan resident Elliott Siderides. He’s the founder and president of New Canaan-based Windward Development, Inc., which is behind the hotel proposal. In appearing before the Planning & Zoning Commission in May founder and president of New Canaan-based Windward Development, Inc. alongside his two sons—John Siderides, Windward’s in-house architect, and Andrew Siderides, Windward’s head of development and construction management—Elliott Siderides detailed the proposed adaptive reuse of brick-exterior commercial buildings on Locust, including one that formerly housed the Board of Education and, temporarily, the New Canaan Police Department. During the hearing, he said that the extended-stay portion of the hotel is designed to serve “people who are visiting their elders at Waveny for a week…people who want their own place, coming back to visit their kids for a month… business owners who may come into town for a week because of remote capabilities,” he said. 

“The typical room has two bedrooms with a kitchen and a living room and/or flex rooms that can create a more expanded living situation,” Siderides told P&Z at the hearing.

News

Did You Hear … ?

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New Canaan Police at 11:11 p.m. on June 28 received a report of a car (unlocked, keys inside) stolen from the Roger Sherman Inn. It was recovered by the New York City Police Department. ***

The Summer Theatre of New Canaan’s production of “The Little Mermaid” opens this weekend at the New Canaan High School auditorium. Tickets here. ***

Firefighters responded to Rosie on Elm Street last Thursday following an electrical fire with the wiring to the exhaust fan for the restaurant’s cooking exhaust system, officials say.