Amanda Martocchio
Library Proposes Estimated $2 Million Renovation of 1913 Building, New Uses Include Additional Meeting and Event Space
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New Canaan Library is proposing a renovation of its legacy 1913 building to accommodate additional meeting space and group functions—a project that officials say is designed to meet an identified need in the community while preserving the historic structure and integrating it into the overall campus. In addition to getting modern energy-efficiency upgrades, the estimated $2 million project will see the 65-by-20-foot building updated with an ADA-compliant bathroom, kitchenette and multipurpose storage/green room that will require a modest 6- to 8-foot “bumpout” behind it (toward the back of the Gulf station), according to library CEO Ellen Sullivan Crovatto.
“The legacy building was preserved and moved back on our campus during the building project in 2023, and it has been empty and unfinished since that time,” Sullivan Crovatto told NewCanaanite.com during an interview that also included Board of Trustees Chair Doug Stewart, Vice Chair Sharon Teles and architect Amanda Martocchio, who served on the building committee for the new library. “This capital project will rehabilitate and repurpose what remains of the original 1913 structure, and successfully integrate it both physically and programmatically into our library campus.”
The space could accommodate up to 90 people, she said. The library plans to file applications for site plan and Special Permit approval with the Planning & Zoning Commission ahead of its Dec. 15 meeting, Sullivan Crovatto said.