Community Corner

Barring Objections, New Canaan Library Preps for Demolition, Park Installation

The New Canaan Library is getting ready for the next expansion of its campus with the demolition of the house that currently stands at the corner of South Avenue and Maple Street. 

The structure, built in 1925 at 56 South Avenue, will be demolished as the 30-day objection period is set to come to a close. During that period, anyone who took objection to the loss of the building had the opportunity to file their objection with Town Hall officials. 

"It'll be turned into a park, that's the current plan," said Executive Director Lisa Oldham. "The trees and shrubbery there will be retained and the land will be made safe and, for the interim, it will become what we're calling a little pocket park. There will be some benches and it will be a place to sit and read in the nice weather."

The site will undergo preventative remediation and things like asbestos, lead paint and oil from heating tanks will be checked for and cleaned up appropriately before construction of a park area, Oldham said. Ultimately, the current library would be replaced by a more modern facility. 

"We are more-or-less the last town in Fairfield County to not have upgraded our library," she said. "We hope to eventually build a new facility, but that's a long way off at this time."

Oldham said the current building is in a bit of disrepair, and occasionally, the weariness becomes quite evident. 

"This [current] building has been cobbled together over the last 100 years," Oldham said. "Two doors near our parking lot entrance just fell off. They just came crashing to the ground. There was a tremendous bang. I came running out of my office because it sounded like a car hit the building. Luckily, no one was near them and they didn't shatter.

"Our heating and cooling units are incredibly elderly and need to be serviced regularly," she continued. "They're inefficient and don't do the job well, but we have to keep using them while we're in the building, so we keep servicing them regularly. It seems weekly, there is some sort of building-related issue."

Oldham said a new library is likely still several years off, but the acquisition of the property and the demolition and transition into a park makes future endeavors a bit easier. Of the block containing the library's campus, framed by Maple Street, South Avenue, Cherry Street and Main Street, only the lots of 48 South Avenue, a residence, and the Gulf Station at 36 South Avenue remain outside of the library's control. 

Oldham said she didn't think the gas station location was ever a property of which library officials were ever considering trying to acquire, but the idea of acquiring 48 South Avenue remained intriguing, though even that acquisition wouldn't take place for some time.

"As for that remaining property, only time will tell," she said. "We're a very long way off, I think, from ever being in a position to consider that property. The opportunity for purchasing [56 South Avenue] when it came onto the market popped up and we took advantage of that."


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