Task Force Gives Campbell the Green, Yellow, Red Light

After three hours of considered debate, First Selectman Dave Campbell's Facilities Study Task Force came to a conclusion: the Senior Center has got to go. But that's the only part of Campbell's proposed municipal building shuffle that has received the green light; the rest of the juggling act remains up in the air.

Campbell's three-phase plan to rearrange town-owned facilities and the agencies that use them revolves around the Senior Center, an old school building on Edgerton Street that the task force agrees is in unacceptable condition. But the controversy lies one mile east at 35 Leroy Ave., where longstanding plans for an affordable housing development have been derailed.

Put simply, the three-phase plan looks like this:

• Move the Board of Education to the former library at 35 Leroy Ave.
• Move the Senior Center to the Board of Education space at Town Hall
• Knock down the Senior Center on Edgerton Street, and leave the space as a playing field
• (If private funds so allow, construct community pool at the Town Hall)

To gauge the feasibility of the project, Campbell has proposed a rough $10,000 study; and prior to that, a free-and-fast space-allocation survey by a ten-member Facilities Study Task Force, chaired by Selectman Jayme Stevenson.

Where committee members agree that the senior center has got to go, they're not yet convinced that the Board of Education space at Town Hall is the optimal location for a new center; moreover, they question whether converting 35 Leroy Ave. to office space for the Board of Education is appropriate, considering Darien's need and demand for affordable senior housing.

The committee met on Wednesday where they addressed, in a roundabout way, each phase of the plan:

Campbell says: Move the Senior Center to the Board of Education space at Town Hall.
Task Force says: Great idea. Would a "multigenerational senior center" work at 35 Leroy?

Joining the committee for the first half of the meeting were Executive Director of the Senior Center Beth Paris and Parks & Recreation Director Susan Swiatek. The task force didn't need much convincing that the senior center was in unacceptable condition; they'd experienced the leaks and creeks first hand at last week's tour.

Instead, the conversation was geared towards defining the long-term vision of the "senior center," which Paris hopes will be a multigenerational, multiuse center—much like the Lapham Center in New Canaan.

"We have to look long range. I know the word 'senior' is a stumbling block. I really see the word 'elderly' as a different thing. We can rename it," said Paris.

The Board of Education space offers a number of pluses, Paris and Swiatek said. For one, it's connected to the Town Hall and has large rooms fit for multipurpose usage. A meeting room could host a yoga class in the morning, a knitting group at lunch, and a movie-screening in the afternoon, for example. It's also less "leggy" than the current space, said Swiatek. There was talk of building a community café with a soup and salad bar: an opportunity for old and young to meet and break bread, and also a means for the town to generate some revenue. Built to code, the center could even qualify as an emergency shelter.

If anything, the space is a bit too big; but that may also be a plus, as it allows for the possibility of sharing the space, they said. If there are any cons, they'll come in the design phase, said Swiatek.

"If you're financially hamstrung by what you can do, there's always going to be cons. A blank slate: we can make that work. I see a lot of pros that way," she said.

Paris and Swiatek's primary request is that whatever box they're given, it's a safe one. They say that their programmatic vision for the future will thrive anywhere—so long as they can rest easy that the boiler won't blow up.

"I just feel like once we're in a safe environment, we're gonna soar," said Paris.

Campbell says: Move the Board of Education to the former library at 35 Leroy Ave.
Task Force says: Is there a better use for 35 Leroy?

Perhaps the most controversial move, converting the former library to office space for Board of Education, met mixed reviews from the committee.

For some members, including Sullivan, concern lingers over the seemingly disposed of plans for affordable housing. They say nixing those plans severely limits the opportunity to attain a second moratorium under pressing state mandate 8-30g, a law that allows developers to put up projects that are denser than normally permissible in towns where less than 10 percent of the housing stock is affordable. Towns that increase that stock by two percent are granted a four-year moratorium. While the recent approval of Garden Homes, the site at 397 Post Road, leads the town en route for a first moratorium, there is no guarantee.

"I think we also need to be talking about the affordable housing. I know its going sound like a broken record, but that's what we need to do," said Sullivan.

Sullivan spoke on behalf of the Commission on Aging who met earlier that morning. She said that the commission has two priorities: fixing the senior center and addressing the need for senior affordable housing.

As the almost ready-to-go affordable housing plan for 35 Leroy Ave. can be easily altered for seniors, some members feel the option should be carefully considered. Darien has substantially fewer designated senior affordable housing units than neighboring towns, and the maxed out wait lists prove there is a real demand.

Other members said that tackling the affordable housing problem was another charge in and of itself, and one that could not be solved in four short weeks.

"The need for affordable housing needs to be part of the town plan not just want we're looking at right now," said Social Services Commission Chair Debra Hertz.

Moreover, the Board of Education cannot be homeless forever.

"The Board of Ed. came into this saying, 'We'll go wherever the town sees fit.' After looking at 35 Leroy, I don't know if it's the best space for us," said Board of Education Member Betsy Hagerty Ross, adding that she cannot make any decision without the full board's input.

Given the budgetary shambles that the Board of Education face, the briefly discussed option of renting office space was not seriously considered.

"I think there are just so many possibilities for it, and I'm not sure how this group can narrow it down," said developer David Genovese.

In close, the commission agreed to have Paris and Switeck weigh in on the possibility of a senior center at 35 Leroy. The two will take a tour next week.

Campbell says: Knock down the Senior Center on Edgerton Street, and leave the space as a playing field
Task Force says: Bring in the bulldozer!

Not one task force member thought the Senior Center was worth saving or even renovating.

"I brought my husband to the building two weeks into the job and he said 'Beth, if the boiler blows up, you'll just have to deal with it,'" Paris said.

Genovese said it was irresponsible to house seniors in such an unsafe space:

"It's irresponsible to have them there, and it's irresponsible to cool, heat and fuel that building. Any analysis is going to say get rid of it."

Bringing the meeting full circle, Stevenson emphasized the focus of her the committee's charge:

"We need to take this one step at a time, and right now we need to focus on the senior center bit."

The Task Force will meet again next Wednesday in room 206 of the Town Hall at 8:30 a.m.