Delayed opening of new Bridgeport library branch met with concerns
BRIDGEPORT — After over a year of delays and $1.4 million in additional costs, library officials are hoping to open the new Newfield branch in the East End in about a month.
More than just a library, the building has become a symbol of revitalization efforts in that historicallyneglected neighborhood. And community leaders are frustrated not with developer Ashlar Construction and its owner Anthony Stewart, who grew up in the East End and returned to transform its tired Stratford Avenue commercial strip, but with Bridgeport’s bureaucracy.
“If he doesn’t get his certificate of occupancy or temporary CO I’m going to see the (fire) chief,” said Councilman Ernie Newton this week. “This has gone on too long.”
Stewart in late March told Hearst Connecticut Media he hoped in April to obtain all of the necessary building department and fire marshal signoffs and turn over the state-of-the-art library to the library board for an early-to-mid summer opening.
Nearly four months and what Stewart said were a half-a-dozen fire marshal inspections later, the developer on Friday thought he was on the cusp of obtaining that certificate of occupancy, or CO, this coming week.
Stewart attributed the four-month lag to some issues involving special metal doors that, in case of fire, automatically close to prevent its spread, along with an emergency phone installed at the front entrance.
“From April to now we had trouble getting certain parts (and) stuff like that,” he said.
“They nitpicked him,” alleged Newton.
It has been a point-of-pride in the East End and among library and municipal officials that Stewart, a Black business owner who was raised in that neighborhood but mostly built a career outside of Bridgeport, was selected in 2016 for the Newfield work and in 2018 to build the adjacent Honey Locust Square grocery store/restaurant/ retail project.
“He’s an African American man, from the community, doing the development, and he’s had to jump through hoops every step of the way,” Ralph Ford, another prominent Black East End community and political leader, said.
Mayor Joe Ganim’s administration did not respond to questions about what has held up Stewart’s CO or why the Newfield branch was not at least issued a temporary one, allowed under state building codes for nearly-complete structures, so library personnel could begin setting it up for patrons.
In contrast, the city’s new 5,700 concert amphitheater which opened July 28 has, City Hall confirmed, been hosting packed concerts while still finalizing some outstanding construction issues ahead of obtaining a CO.
“I hear when the fire marshal comes (to inspect Newfield) there’s always something — this or that,” said Keith Williams, head of the East End Neighborhood Revitalization Zone civic group. “I don’t know what’s taken them so long.”
“I did try (for a temporary CO),” Stewart said. “They said I had to have everything 100 percent done.” But he did not criticize the city, saying he had worked hard to address any concerns and was looking forward to Newfield opening.
Tom Errichetti, the library board’s treasurer, confirmed he discussed the possibility of a temporary certificate of occupancy with Stewart in order to start setting up book shelving.
“I don’t know why he couldn’t get one,” Errichetti said. “I think the hold up was on the fire (marshal) side. Books burn, right?”
“Hopefully we’re there,” Errichetti continued. “We’ve been waiting much like everybody else to get in there and he’s given us different dates.”
The library board, meanwhile, had another issue with Stewart and Ashlar — cost overruns. The developer five years ago committed to a $6.2 million budget and a May 2020 completion. But that amount grew by $1.4 million to a $7.6 million total — an increase Stewart blamed on delays, price hikes and supply shortages resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stewart earlier this month recounted similar pandemic-related challenges with the also delayed Honey Locust Square, which has a foundation but is still awaiting vertical steel construction.
According to the minutes of the May 2021 library board meeting, Chairman Jim O’Donnell addressed “rumors” in the East End that Newfield had not opened because library officials were withholding payments to Ashlar’s subcontractors.
O’Donnell at that meeting complained that Ashlar had not provided enough justification for the additional expenses — “there were no purchase orders, no change orders or other documentation” — but ultimately “the library paid the debts of Ashlar Construction to satisfy the obligation to those contractors.”
Errichetti at that same meeting said he had “receipts for all the payments that have been made and there were no outstanding bills.”
O’Donnell could not be reached for further comment.
Stewart on Friday said, “Jim (O’Donnell) is right. They paid all the subcontractors. There’s not a single sub out there that can say we owe them a dime.”
As for the final $7.6 million budget, Stewart said, “I did my best to give them (the library board) the best possible deal on this library . ... It’s my old library. I’m personally attached to this. I went to this library in the ‘60s and ‘70s. I wanted to do this.”
Despite the difficulties in building and opening the Newfield branch, Stewart is excited to share it with the public.
“The community has no idea what they’re about to get,” he said. “Only a few people have been in there. Wait until they see this. This library can compete with any library in the state.”