‘New Canaan There & Then’ is sponsored by Brown Harris Stevens Realtors Bettina Hegel, Joanne Santulli, Dawn Sterner and Pam Stutz.
In a somewhat exhaustive 1992 history of Waveny Care Center, the (unknown) authors’ first sentence was as follows:
“In the early 1960’s several New Canaan people became concerned that an increasing number of their neighbors, many of them long time residents who had contributed much to the growth, development and appeal of the community, felt obligated to move out of town because of a lack of appropriate housing accommodations and inadequate support services for the elderly.”
Sound familiar?
While dedicated senior housing still remains an elusive goal for New Canaan, Waveny LifeCare Network (formerly Waveny Care Center) has for over 50 years provided much more-than-adequate support services for the elderly, with a continuum of healthcare to serve the changing needs of seniors from New Canaan and beyond.
And the history of Waveny LifeCare is fascinating, starting in 1961 when a small highly motivated group of respected town doctors joined with the clergy of seven New Canaan churches to form the Interchurch Service Committee, with the intention of addressing the problem detailed in that first sentence.
The Committee was frustrated in its efforts though the ‘60s to find a suitable and available site, and it wasn’t until early in 1969 that the Committee realized that a portion of the estate recently given to the Town of New Canaan by the magnificent Mrs. Ruth Lapham Lloyd might be the answer.
Mrs. Lloyd had had the experience of being cared for at home during a recent illness and was aware of the Committee’s efforts. She was convinced that there were health benefits for sick and infirm people being able to remain in familiar surroundings. In fact, the deed for what is now Waveny Park contained a specific provision dictating that a portion of her estate would be used for health purposes.
This set the stage for an epic political battle in 1971 between then-First Selectman Charlie Kelly, who preferred a site adjacent to Waveny Castle, and both the Park and Recreation and Planning and Zoning Commissions, who preferred the twelve-acre site where Waveny LifeCare sits today (and that previously served as the home of the Lapham family’s stable and assorted chicken coops). The Town Council ultimately made an end-run around the First Selectman by referring the entire matter to its own Park and Conservation Committee, requesting that alternatives to the Waveny Castle site be considered, which was done.
On April 12, 1972, the Town Council voted unanimously to approve the present-day site. Enter Ruth Lapham Lloyd again. Immediately after the vote, the Committee announced Mrs. Lloyd’s offer of a challenge gift of $1 million to finance the construction of what is now Waveny LifeCare Network. In appreciation of her magnanimous contribution (which gift would be nearly $8 million today) the name of the organization was changed to Waveny Care Center later that year.