Government

With New Sidewalk, Town Hall Driveway To Become Four to Five Feet Narrower

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Main Street motorists entering and exiting the renovated Town Hall’s driveway will encounter a “pinch point” between the building and Vine Cottage retaining wall that likely will not let two SUVs pass simultaneously, officials say. Asked about the driveway’s width, Director of Public Works Michael Pastore said a new sidewalk running alongside the driveway from Main Street is expected to make what was a 24-foot-wide driveway about 19 feet across. Because the building and retaining wall opposite do not run parallel to each other, the “pinch point” occurs at the corner of the original structure. “But at 19 [feet] you can still pass two vehicles,” Pastore said. “If you get two delivery trucks or two SUVs, that could be tight.”

He noted that though 19 feet would be narrow for a street, driveways do not see the same traffic or volume of cars—in this case, additional traffic-calming measures include signs indicating a narrow drive and a planned “speed pad.” The sidewalk will only affect the stretch of the driveway directly off of Main Street—an ample, wide accessway opens up immediately after the “pinch point.”

Government

‘It’s Pretty Sobering’: Future of Playhouse Uncertain

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New Canaan would need to spend some $2.1 million—with an estimated $450,000 beyond that, for abatement—in order to bring the Playhouse Theatre on Elm Street to safe, structurally sound and ADA-compliant condition, public works officials said Tuesday. The 1923 building needs parts of its roof and brick exterior replaced ($550,00), an elevator and ADA-compliant wheelchair access ($1,120,000), new gutters and drainage system ($200,000) and, perhaps most of all, a new layout for its sprinkler system—currently perched above a layer of insulation in the ceiling, according to Michael Pastore, director of the New Canaan Department of Public Works. “If the sprinklers come on, it’s going to soak that insulation, get heavy and probably bring down the ceiling,” Pastore said while presenting DPW’s budget request (see page 39 here) to the Board of Finance at a meeting held in the Sturgess Room of the New Canaan Nature Center. “That’s the situation we have.”

The figures above do not include contaminant abatement for any capital work needed—Pastore said a consultant hired to assess the structure last year put the figure at $450,000, strictly based on the Town Hall renovation. “It could be more, it could be less,” he said.

Government

On the Town Hall Addition’s Brick: ‘We Are Not Trying to Imitate Anything’

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As the addition back of Town Hall materializes—the major piece of the historic building’s $18 million renovation and expansion—one question coming in from many observers, officials say, involves an aesthetic detail that no one expected to garner attention: its bricks. Engineers, historic preservationists, architects and builders have spent years conceiving—now building—a flexible, modern, safe, ADA-compliant, open and hi-tech Town Hall that’s sensitive to the original 1909 structure. And in fact much of the exterior work at 77 Main St. has involved restoring the original façade of the building (an effort that’s led to some exciting revelations—see below). Yet for many of those eyeballing Town Hall from angles where the original structure and addition are side-by-side—say, from beside Vine Cottage—the differently sized and colored bricks in the new construction have emerged as a kind of curiosity.

Government

Water Main Hookup to Renovated Town Hall to Cost Unanticipated $74,000; Overall Project Remains on Budget

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New Canaan will spend an unanticipated $74,000 to connect the renovated Town Hall to a water main, after officials from the public water company found the hookup that had been in place wanting for the expanded structure, officials say. When workers at the Main Street site went to connect to the water main through an existing line, Aquarion discovered that a single line had been serving not only Town Hall but also the Outback Teen Center behind it, and “it turned out we needed a separate line with the two buildings,” said Michael Pastore, director of the Department of Public Works. “We didn’t know that,” Pastore said. “There is some confusion as to how come this is different to what it was. But it has to be different to what it was.

Government

Renovated Town Hall Taking Shape with Steel Skeleton

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New Canaan’s renovated Town Hall is starting to take physical shape this week, with the appearance of a steel skeleton behind the original building that will be fully installed by June 20, officials say. Pictured at right, the steel structure will hold the renovated Town Hall’s vault, clerk’s office and other miscellaneous offices, said Joseph Zagarenski of Bridgeport-based firm The McLoud Group, which is overseeing the project as construction manager. “The nuts and bolts of it are that that’s the first bay of three, so you’ll see the next two bays and a complete structure up here at the end of the month,” Zagarenski  said. The approximately $18 million renovation of Town Hall is on schedule and budget, officials have said. (Here are some renderings of the renovated New Canaan Town Hall from White Plains, NY-based KSQ Architects, article continues below.)

[acx_slideshow name=”New Canaan Town Hall renovation”]

 

Selectman Beth Jones after board meetings regularly tours the site and receives project updates from Zagarenski and New Canaan Department of Public Works Director Mike Pastore.