Government

Public Buildings InfoSheet: New Canaan Police Department (Original NCHS)

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[Editor’s Note: The following has been prepared in advance of the “Forum on Public Buildings,” to be held 6:30 to 9 p.m. on April 26 at Town Hall (questions for panelists can be submitted here). Most of the information in the bullet points below is drawn from the Town Building Evaluation & Use Committee report.]

Built: 1926, opened 1927
Square footage: 27,000
Current uses: Headquarters of the New Canaan Police Department, New Canaan Parking Bureau
Committee recommendations: Fund the architectural and engineering needed for renovations. Use ground and first floors for NCPD and upper floor for municipal offices and swing space. Relevant articles: Board of Ed To Form Its Own ‘Headquarters Committee’ To Study, Recommend Future Location (March 2018), Board of Ed Offices Should Be Moved To Underused Third Floor of New Canaan Police Department, First Selectman Says (December 2017), Superintendent: School Administration ‘Open’ to Relocating to Town-Owned Facility (November 2017). Submitted by Mimi Findlay:

Description

The current Police Station (the original New Canaan High School) is a 2-story structure of red brick and cut stone In the Georgian/Colonial Revival Style, designed in1926 by John Nobel Pierson and Son, Architects, Perth Amboy, NJ.

Government

Public Buildings InfoSheet: Irwin Barn

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[Editor’s Note: The following has been prepared in advance of the “Forum on Public Buildings,” to be held 6:30 to 9 p.m. on April 26 at Town Hall (questions for panelists can be submitted here). Most of the information in the bullet points below is drawn from the Town Building Evaluation & Use Committee report.]

Built: 1908
Square Footage: 4,128 s.f.
Current Uses: Storage
Committee Recommendations: Invest in stabilizing and repurposing the barn, whose very large spaces, two ground floor levels, proximity to park activities and architectural character lend it to many opportunities. Potential uses include Park and Rec’s headquarters and location of Park & Rec Summer Camp, restroom facilities servicing the park, some level of organized storage for Parks and other town departments, potential cell service equipment and flagpole tower, among others. Relevant articles: Garden Club Wants To Use Irwin Park (Including Barn) for May Flower Sale, Officials Report (March 2017)

Submitted by Mimi Findlay:

This large Carriage Barn was built by Dr. James F. McKernon, who bought the 70-acre property from Charles Comstock homestead in 1905. In 1908 McKernon built his two-and-a-half story Shingle Style summer house, this barn and a smaller building, perhaps the pump house, by the side of the driveway.

Government

Public Buildings Forum InfoSheet: Waveny House and Park

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[Editor’s Note: The following “Statement of significance” has been prepared in advance of the April 26 Forum on Public Buildings, to be held 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Town Hall—more information is available here and questions for panelists can be submitted here. Most of the information in the bullet points below is drawn from the Town Building Evaluation & Use Committee report.]

Built: ca. 1912
Square footage: 36,000
Current uses: Private and community events; town Recreation, Information Technology Departments
Committee recommendations: More profitable “hospitality” function of first floor; extensive renovation of second floor to provide more space for municipal use; use third floor/attic for required document and other storage. Relevant news articles: Birdcage Elevator Could be Best Option to Bring Waveny House Up to ADA Compliance (April 2018), Seeking More Info, Town Council Hits Pause on $1 Million Request for Waveny House (March 2018), ‘You Literally Just Salivate’: Officials Evaluating Town Buildings See Potential in Waveny House (April 2017)

Submitted by Lea Cromwell:

Waveny Park encompasses the planned landscape of the first resident, Thomas Hall, and later of the second resident, Lewis Lapham and his children, as an “American Country Place.”

The Hall Era: Thomas B. Hall, President of the American Hide and Leather Co1, in 1895 purchased the 90-acre farm of the 18th century Elisha Leeds, creating the winding driveways and stone gateposts that remain today. He built a three-story Dutch Colonial residence with views over Long Island Sound.