Government

Selectmen OK Demolition of Town-Owned 1900-Built House on Grove Street

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The Board of Selectmen last week approved an approximately $54,000 contract to demolish a town-owned house on Grove Street. The town two years ago purchased the 1900-built house at 28 Grove St. for about $1 million, calling the .15-acre parcel a “strategic” property in that it backs up to the Lumberyard Lot. 

At their regular meeting on March 25, the selectmen voted 3-0 to approve $54,198 in contracts to raze the house and a shed and remove contaminants from the site. “The demolition would include the foundation of the building,” Joe Zagarenski, senior engineer with the Department of Public Works, said at the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “And then we would just level it off to make it safe.

Around Town

CT Stage Company’s ‘Spelling Bee’ Set To Run April 5 and 6 at New Canaan Library 

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A live theater nonprofit organization founded by two local women is readying for its next widely anticipated production at New Canaan Library. The Connecticut Stage Company’s is running “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” at 7 p.m. on Saturday April 5 and 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 6. Founded by Kate Simone and Lorah Haskins, the CT Stage Company has already put on well-known shows in “Into the Woods,” “Little Women” and, most recently, “Hair.” They chose “Spelling Bee” this time “to introduce our community to one of our favorites that they may not have seen before,” according to Simone. “Spelling Bee also brings a bit of levity to our stage, after having three shows that dug deep and pulled at our heartstrings,” Simone said in an email. “This show is pure joy and comedic genius.

News

Juniper Road Colonial Sells for $3.1 Million

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The following property transfer(s) were recorded recently in the Town Clerk’s office. For more information about each property from the assessor, click on the street address. To get the history of a New Canaan street name, click here. ***

March 20

116 Juniper Road

$3.1 million
Niraj Patel to Lauren Greenberg

March 19

31 Marvin Ridge Road

$2,514,365
Marvin Ridge Colonial LLC to Alyna McGeever

72-74 Locust Ave. $1,125,000
Deborah Hayden to SLE Property Management LLC

March 17

24 Orchard Lane

$1.9 million
Estate of Marian Morton Brown AKA Marian Ruth Brown to Lauren Prial

36 Apple Tree Lane

$2,186,500
The Audrey Shahnazarian 2008 Revocable Living Trust to Megan Ashforth

Around Town

‘You Could Always Count on Him’: New Canaan Letter Carrier John Beckett Retires After 40 Years

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On Thursday, U.S.P.S. letter carrier John Beckett made his final set of deliveries to South Avenue, marking the end of a 40-year career. Starting with the Stamford Post Office in 1985, Beckett began delivering to New Canaan after the two towns’ post offices merged in 1999. He’s been serving the South Avenue route for the past 13 years. “I was going to do this until something better came along, and it turned out to be a great job,” Beckett told New Canaanite. “They put a roof over my head, food on the table, I’ve raised the family, and I’ve met people that I never would have met if I hadn’t done this job.”
In a show of appreciation for the time and effort Beckett has spent dutifully serving his route, many residents left thank you notes and balloons on their mailboxes, with some even waiting outside to thank him in person on his final day.

Around Town

‘Art Was His Whole Life’: Celebrating the Life and Work of Norm Jensen, Sunday at the Carriage Barn

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The Carriage Barn Arts Center is set to host a unique celebration Sunday of the life and art of a beloved member of the New Canaan community. 

Norm Jensen, a Brooklyn, N.Y. native and 30-year town resident who worked as a graphic artist and was prolific in painting, ceramics and photography, died Feb. 13 at 84. A member of the Carriage Barn, Jensen “was always showing art at the Carriage Barn and all the other neighboring centers—Rowayton Arts Center, Ridgefield, Wilton,” according to his daughter, Laura Jensen.

At those places, “most people know him,” Jensen told NewCanaanite.com

Jensen experimented with various kinds of art during his lifetime, she said. 

“He originally did photography and also some painting, like oils and acrylic,” she said. “He also did sculpture, computer art, and then he got into making diorama boxes.” 

From 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, the Carriage Barn is hosting “The Life & Artwork of Norman A. Jensen,” where guests will be invited to take home a piece of Jensen’s art to remember him by, and may leave a donation in his honor. “We love Norm—he’s part of the Carriage Barn community,” the organization’s executive director, Hilary Wittmann, said.