‘It’s been a while’
P&Z reviews new Eastern Greenwich Civic Center plan
GREENWICH — A proposal to build a new Eastern Greenwich Civic Center in Old Greenwich has earned good marks from the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The planning commissioners reviewed the proposal create a one-story building with 35,418 square feet of space to replace the current two-story building with 31,765 square feet of space at their meeting Tuesday night, and it received favorable comments.
Alan Monelli, town superintendent of buildings and maintenance, told the commissioners that the current building on Harding Road was deemed too old and inefficient for rehabilitation, and that replacement was the most cost-effective option. The structure dates to 1950, when
it was built as a recreation center for employees of a former vacuum-manufacturing plant for Electrolux.
The new building will include a gym, event spaces, a kitchen and activity rooms.
During public comments, Francia Alvarez of the Greenwich Tree Conservancy said the town
should take steps to make sure tree preservation and new plantings are a priority on the site.
Old Greenwich resident Victoria Quake said she was “excited” about the proposed facility. She said she would like to see the fields reconstructed after the new building is finished. The fields, which she said are in substandard condition, will be usable during the construction project.
Another local resident, Candace Garthwaite, said she liked
the project and suggested that the plan accommodate possible expansion in the future — “50 to 70 years out in the future, looking at how we might maximize this space.”
Monelli said the project has a number of components — parking, nearby wetlands, programming, landscaping and cost — that made it particularly complicated from a construction perspective. “It’s a balancing act,” he said.
Commission Chairwoman Margarita Alban said the commission wanted as much information as possible on the thought process behind the project. “Tell us what about else you were considering, what you honed it down to, so we can be a player in the balancing act,” she said.
Alban said it appeared the project was drawing praise from the community.
The proposal is also being reviewed by the Inland Wetlands
and Watercourses Agency and the Architectural Review Committee.
The project to modernize the Eastern Civic Center has been active since 1999. “It’s been a while,” said Alban.
A vote to authorize the proposal by the commission, through a municipal improvement approval, was not taken Tuesday and is expected to come at a later date.