Amy Zabetakis

Town Committee Imposes 90-Day Demolition Delay on St. Aloysius-Owned House on Maple Street

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Though a representative of the building’s owner said the house at 30 Maple St. is structurally unsound, has no practical use for St. Aloysius Church, is to be razed to make way for an improved drop-off area for schoolchildren and isn’t the defining historic structure on the property, town officials last week voted unanimously to impose a 90-day demolition delay for the structure. The ca. 1906-built “Stick-style” building that fronts Maple Street between South Avenue and Park Street is to be demolished as part of St.

Government

Committee Imposes 90-Day Delay on New Canaan Library’s Partial Demolition

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An appointed town body on Monday voted 4-0 in favor of imposing a 90-day delay on the partial demolition of New Canaan Library. Members of the Historical Review Committee during a special meeting said that the original 1913 library meets criteria of local history and architecture as outlined in Section 12-10A of the Town Code. Citing a letter of objection to the library’s recent demo permit application that was filed by New Canaan resident Mimi Findlay, Committee Chair Mark Markiewicz said, “It’s very clear that the original 1913 building has a very compelling history, both socially in the town and architecturally.”

“It also seems like there’s a great potential to repurpose it, which would become a great cultural asset to New Canaan,” he added at the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. “To use its full footprint including the five rooms that originally were built, I think it offers a lot of opportunities for different events, whether it’s exhibits or music venues or whatever. And its central location is also important.

Andrew Melillo

‘I Will Not Enforce That’: Committee, Building Official at Odds Over Demolition Notice [CORRECTED]

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[Note: This article has been corrected to reflect a 4-1 vote, not a 5-0 vote as originally reported.]

Saying those seeking to raze a derelict greenhouse followed the process outlined in a local ordinance, New Canaan’s town building official last week told members of an appointed municipal body that he wouldn’t enforce their request to re-notice the structure. According to some members of the Historical Review Committee, the sign affixed to a ca.-1900 greenhouse at the New Canaan Nature Center failed to meet a requirement that it be posted “in a conspicuous location of the property on which the structure is situated” and that it’s “visible from the nearest public street or other accessway adjoining the property.”

Committee member Ed Vollmer said during the appointed body’s April 16 meeting that “there are people who are unhappy with what is going on and the destruction of the greenhouse because it is considered a historic building.”

Under local ordinance, if a letter objecting to a planned demolition is received within 15 days of publication of the notice in a newspaper, then the Committee may decide to impose a delay period of up to 90 days. In this case, however, the Nature Center’s notice was published Feb. 6, meaning the objection period expired Feb. 21—four days before a New Canaan woman filed her letter, which was therefore rejected by Town Building Official Brian Platz.

Brian Platz

Committee Seeks To Double ‘Demolition Delay’ Period from 90 to 180 Days

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The volunteer municipal body responsible for studying historical buildings in New Canaan wants to double the amount of time it may delay the demolition of such structures. The Historical Review Committee voted 5-0 last week to recommend upping the demolition delay period from 90 to 180 days. It currently “is not an adequate incentive for an applicant to seriously consider alternative solutions to demolition,” Committee member Laszlo Papp said during the appointed group’s Sept. 13 meeting, held at the New Canaan Historical Society. “And 180 days possibly will provide more incentive to keep, repurpose or maintain the historical property,” he said.

Government

Town Imposes 90-Day Demolition Delay on New Canaan Country School Barn

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Town officials on Tuesday imposed a 90-day stay of demolition for an antique barn on New Canaan Country School property. In planning to raze the structure as well as a row of smaller sheds that originally had been used as chicken coops to make way for a new outdoor pool and pool house, the Frogtown Road private school appears not to have considered using the original barn in some way, according to members of the Historical Review Committee. Committee member Marty Skrelunas said he was disappointed that the project’s architect appeared not to looked at the “adaptive reuse” of the barn. “Given the structure, the style of construction, it would be a very easy building to redesign,” Skrelunas said during the Committee’s meeting, held in the Janet Lindstrom Room of the New Canaan Historical Society. “It is not like a brick building where the spaces are defined by the structure.