Government

The Playhouse: Target Opening Date for Restored Movie Theater Remains June 21 

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Workers are making good progress at The Playhouse and the target opening date, at this point, remains June 21, town officials said Wednesday night. Preparations are “going forward” and contractors are “working six to seven days a week,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “They’re aware of the June 21st deadline and they’re working diligently towards that,” he told members of the Town Council at their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. Referring to the new operator of The Playhouse, he added, “And CinemaLab, on their side, is starting to work on some of their ideas for an opening.”

Closed at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and available to a new tenant since later that year, when Bow Tie Cinemas terminated its lease, the Playhouse will remain a two-screen “twin” theater when it opens. Originally estimated at about $4 million, the long-awaited project at the Playhouse came in at nearly double that figure last year, and is finishing at about $8.6 million.

Government

‘It’s a Complicated Building’: Water Is Infiltrating Waveny House’s Walls

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Municipal officials are calling for a study of Waveny House after it was discovered that the iconic town-owned building is suffering from water infiltration in its walls. Town residents should “know the scope of the seriousness of this,” according to Selectman Amy Murphy Carroll. “I don’t think people realize, it’s a complicated building,” Murphy Carroll said at the May 1 Board of Selectmen meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “The ADA stuff’s complicated. It’s old.

Government

Commission Approves New Parking Configuration for Morse Court

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Saying it’ll make parking easier for large vehicles and improve traffic flow, town officials voted last week in favor of re-striping the Morse Court lot. The change will create spaces nine feet wide and at 90 degrees from the travel lane, as opposed to the current configuration where stall widths range from 7.5 to 8.5 feet wide and many are angled, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. The new striping also will create wide enough traffic lanes within the lot to allow for two-way traffic all around, though it will bring a net loss of 10 spaces to Morse Court, officials said at the May 1 Parking Commission meeting. 

Though the town is “not being forced” to change the parking configuration when it re-stripes the lot, Mann said, the spaces as currently configured are not in compliance with the New Canaan Zoning Regulations or Village District Guidelines, Mann said. “The problem is you have spaces that are way undersized and the Commission was receiving complaints,” he said at the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. “The first selectman’s office was receiving complaints.

Government

Town To Knock Down Gazebo Behind Lapham

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The Board of Selectmen last week voted 3-0 in favor of a contract with a Norwalk-based company to remove a gazebo behind the Lapham Community Center. Located near a planned baseball stadium, the structure is “past its useful life,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “The benches on the inside are rotted out,” Mann told the selectmen during their regular meeting, held April 16 at Town Hall and via videoconference. “We’ve got some other issues working on it. And it’ll either require some additional work to maintain or we should necessarily remove it.”

He added, “It is quite close to the work at Coppo Field and will probably be impacted by that work.

Government

‘I Don’t Want Town Funds Being Used for This’: Carlson Pushes Back on Contract for Stanchion Repair

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Town officials decided Tuesday to wait for an insurance claim to be processed prior to repairing a low painted brick column that marks the start of a public road near the Merritt Parkway. One of the two columns located at the start of White Birch Road—opposite the off-ramp from Merritt Parkway Exit 37 northbound—was struck and damaged by a vehicle in December, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. The “stanchion” is in the public right-of-way and helps delineate White Birch, a residential street, for motorists exiting the parkway, Mann told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting by way of seeking approval of a $5,350 contract to repair it. Yet New Canaan’s highest elected official pushed back on spending taxpayer dollars on the project. “I’m just going to throw it out there: Why are we reconstructing this?” First Selectman Dionna Carlson said during the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference.