Public Works Director: Let's Renovate Town Hall

NEW CANAAN, Conn. – It’s time to fix New Canaan Town Hall, says Public Works Director Mike Pastore.

“It’s been studied. We can argue about which plan to do. There’s no argument that something has to be done,” Pastore said Tuesday after presenting the funding request for the Public Works Department for the 2012-13 fiscal year.

Pastore wants $720,000 to pay for an architectural study to see about renovating the town’s main building and installing decked parking at the town’s Locust Avenue lot. The construction could cost $12 million.

Several reports have called for work at Town Hall, Pastore said, a building with a history of flooding and leaks that needs to be brought into compliance with the federal Americans With Disabilities Act. The last renovation of Town Hall was completed 50 to 60 years ago, he said.

The architectural study is one of several capital project requests from public works, one of four departments that made presentations Tuesday night before a special joint meeting of the Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance and Town Council. The public works’ base funding request is for $7.3 million, about 1 percent more than the department’s current budget.

First Selectman Robert Mallozzi III said Tuesday’s meeting was the first of about three months of work for the boards in preparing a fiscal plan. The groups will meet again at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to hear presentations from the New Canaan Library, the New Canaan Police and Fire departments and general town government. Any changes to the proposed $132.8 million spending plan will not happen until at least Jan. 17.  

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