Amy Murphy Carroll

‘Tremendous Energy’: New Canaan Democrats Kick Off 2025 Local Election Campaign

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More than 250 New Canaan Democrats gathered at the Carriage Barn Arts Center on Sunday for the party’s campaign kickoff event. Held inside and outside the Waveny outbuilding, the barbecue offered a chance for candidates in contested local races—namely, the Town Council and Board of Education—to address New Canaan supporters, along with Democratic representatives and figures on the state and national levels. “We have tremendous energy today,” New Canaan DTC Chair Tim Klimpl told NewCanaanite.com in an interview as attendees mingled in the courtyard and inside the Carriage Barn on a clear, sunny early evening. “Our theme throughout the year has been ‘Light the Way Forward,’ and that’s a role we embrace. We have supporters from years past and new supporters, new candidates here, all trying to carry positive energy forward, just as we are in our races.

Amy Murphy Carroll

Selectmen Push Back on Town Clerk’s Request for Part-Time Help

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The Board of Selectmen, following a pointed discussion, voted during a recent meeting to approve three months of pay for two part-time workers in the Town Clerk’s office. The quarterly approval is less than the full year of pay that Town Clerk Claudia Weber asked the selectmen for during their regular meeting, held July 22 at Town Hall and via videoconference. As Assistant Town Clerk Janet Donohue recently retired, Weber was seeking the additional help for an extended period because she “needs more hands,”she said. The requested hirings were of John Amarilios and Debra Lyon at up to 19 hours each through next June. “Historically, we’ve had a group of people that we can call upon on an as-needed basis,” Weber said.

Government

Town Approves Funds To Repaint the Historic ‘Gores Pavilion’ at Irwin

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Town officials this month approved funds to power-wash and repaint the exterior of a historic structure in Irwin Park. The Gores Pavilion—designed by Harvard Five architect Landis Gores as a winter lodge and summer pool house—was dedicated in 1960 at a grand surprise party arranged by Philip Johnson in honor of Gores himself. During their June 3 meeting, members of the Board of Selectmen approved an $8,690 contract with a Stamford company to power-wash, scrape, prepare and paint the building’s exterior. 

The building was painted about eight years ago, according to Bill Oestmann, superintendent of buildings in the New Canaan Department of Public Works. “It requires overall maintenance on the painting end because of the type of materials that are on that building,” Oestmann said during the Board’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “And it’s historic in nature, so we have to keep up with the maintenance on it.

Amy Murphy Carroll

Pedestrian Railing Coming to Front of Playhouse To Help with Tripping Issue

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Because visitors to The Playhouse have had problems tripping off of the small concrete platform right out front, the town is planning to install a railing at the platform’s edge. The hope is that the railing will serve as a visual demarcation between the concrete and brick sidewalk below, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. The railing itself also will be required by code with a new pedestrian ramp that’s going in on the right-hand side of the building, Mann said. “We’re still having issues with some residents not navigating from the platform down to the brick sidewalk,” Mann told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held Tuesday at Town Hall and via videoconference. “They’re not able to understand from the concrete to the brick.

Government

Waveny’s ‘South Avenue Trail’ To Be Reconstructed

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A heavily used trail in New Canaan’s most popular park is set to see major improvements. 

The Board of Selectmen last week approved an $87,880 contract with Norwalk-based company to reconstruct the pedestrian trail that runs parallel to South Avenue from the main entrance to Waveny to Farm Road. The new trail will be made of a “mixture of pea stone and a three-eighths-inch stone which gives us that nice look and that nice feel on every other trail that we’ve done with the [Waveny Park] Conservancy,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. He referred to a nonprofit organization that works to keep up and improve the park. “So now this is our [the town’s] stretch,” Mann told the selectmen during their March 25 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “So we’re looking to do this as well in the same material.