Brian Humes

Architects on Preserving Facade of Existing Police Station in Rebuilding Project: ’There Would Be a Cost’

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Though preserving the street-facing facade of the New Canaan Police Department as part of a rebuilding project is possible, doing so likely would cost more than razing the South Avenue structure and starting anew, according to two architects that town officials are considering for the job. It’s “realistic” to preserve the brick-and-columns facade of what opened in 1927 as the original New Canaan High School, though “it would be at a cost that would be at or exceed new construction,” Brian Humes of Berlin-based Jacunski Humes Architects, LLC told members of the New Canaan Police Department Building Committee during their regular meeting Thursday. “It can be done,” Humes said during the meeting, held via videoconference. “It’s not something that we can’t do. There would be a cost to doing it, though.”

Deciding whether it makes the most sense to renovate the existing police headquarters or build anew—and, if new construction is the best route, whether to build on the current site, expand behind the existing building or do it somewhere else—are the major questions now facing the newly appointed seven-member Committee. 

Members heard from Humes and Chuck Boos of New Britain-based Kaestle Boos Associates, Inc, who made cases for why they should be selected for the project, talked about their work and fielded questions from the Committee.