The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Renovated chambers ‘focal point’ of town
Designed for comfort of those with disabilities
CROMWELL — It was a basic utilitarian room.
Actually, it was two bland, featureless rooms with a folded sliding cardboard divider that could be used to separate them. It didn’t even have a name, just a reference number: Rooms 222-224.
It had all the grace — which is to say barely any — of a bus terminal waiting room with pretensions. It had a linoleum floor, row upon row of chairs — metal, folding, color gray.
Only recently were black Germanic chairs added, creating a faux business class for people sitting in the front of the room. Those harsh chairs radiated a silent but firm message, however — don’t linger too long.
The “economy class,” the residents who at the rear, had to make do with the folding chairs.
There was a sound system, not that it faithfully transmitted the remarks of the few councilors or commissioners used their microphones.
People sitting in the rear of the room at best caught snatches of comments, fragments of thoughts, like a faraway radio station heard across the water on late summer night.
And yet this sterile room on the second floor of Town Hall was the seat of government for the town of Cromwell. Budgets were crafted here, planning proposals approved — or not — and acts, rules and proposed laws discussed, debated and sometimes approved here.
Once, governmental buildings reflected the dream of largeness of spirit and achievement, of the potential for greatness, of important things happening within its confines. These were buildings that spoke of pride, hope and vision.
This room, installed in 1985 when the Town Hall was created out of a former school, spoke of none of that. Instead it epitomized the triumph of the low bidder.
The best thing about Room 222-224 was the floors, which Building Maintainer Edward
Kennedy polished to a high gleam in which people could see their faces and perhaps imagine themselves capable of great things.
The relentless mediocrity of the room chafed at Town Manager Anthony J. Salvatore. He wanted a room that spoke to the aspirational in government and in the people of Cromwell.
Salvatore spoke with Mayor Enzo Faienza and together they developed plans to re-do the room as a proper council chamber. The result: a complete makeover that turned a could-be bus terminal space into a room of which residents can be proud.
Crews from the Department of Public Works dismantled the room divider and re-painted the entire room.
Faienza and Salvatore had
previously had an overhead projector installed, which enabled them to project images (and/or budgets) on a drop-down screen.
But as he embarked on the makeover, Salvatore wondered “if we couldn’t have a double-sided screen” — one for the council and the other one for residents who would be seated in what now was becoming the council chamber.
“I wanted to address problems we were having with the presentations. We had them install simultaneous projectors so we could simulcast presentations,” he explained.
That was the least of the efforts. The town crews leveled the floor before a new rug was installed. The existing dais dismantled and a new one constructed out of cherry wood by employees of Angel Custom Woodworking of Waterbury.
The dais was brought forward to enable residents
with disabilities who serve on the council or the other agencies that use the room to move freely about, something they were not able to do with the previous dais.
A new sound system was installed by Horizon Electronics. It is a system officials promise will put an end to what residents have been subjected.
Altogether, the project cost approximately $30,000. The room has been renamed as the Council Chamber.
“It has warm, cozy feel about it,” Salvatore said. “The response has been extremely positive, both by the councilors and the commissioner that use it as well as by the citizens. I am very happy with the results, and very proud.
“I’m especially proud of all the work that was done by our employees, as well as by Rick D’Angelo from Angel Woodworking and Rich Green from Horizon.”
Salvatore and Faienza were looking for one more thing, that one special thing that would cap the renovation.
“I always thought there should be a focal point,” the manager said.
Salvatore drew upon his extensive network of contacts and reached out to the state Commissioner of Corrections who he thought might be able to help.
In short order, Salvatore and Faienza had what they wanted: the seal of the town made out of red oak wood — and made by inmates.
It was installed on north facing wall of the chamber, under a spotlight
“It’s exactly what we envisioned,” Salvatore said. “It’s the focal point.”