The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
BANTAM ANNEX’S FUTURE SOUGHT
Borough board, Litchfield selectmen explore affordable housing plan
LITCHFIELD >> When the courthouse opens in Torrington this year, Bantam Superior Court will cease to exist, leaving the decades-old building practically empty. The use of the building and its property has been discussed numerous times by town officials and residents over the years.
Now Litchfield selectmen are exploring the idea of using the Bantam annex building property for affordable housing. A large portion of the annex will become vacant this year when the Litchfield Judicial District Courthouse
opens on Field Street in Torrington, and Bantam Superior Court moves out of the building at 80 Doyle Road.
The Board of Selectmen voted May 2 to have Public Works Director Raz Alexe price out a Phase I environmental study on the property for affordable housing.
“This is a win-win for the community, a win-win for Bantam, (an) opportunity to bring families in if it moves to the point where we’re able to use that property as we are hoping to be able to use the property,” said First Selectman Leo Paul, when discussing the proposal this week. “It’s going to be good for the community all around.”
Paul said Friday that the idea would be a win for Litchfield, the Bantam borough and residents, because it would provide a use for a building that is expected to be largely vacated.
The Board of Selectmen, Paul said Friday, previously determined that the building would no longer house municipal offices in the future after considering the various factors at play. Litchfield’s land use office, the parks and recreation department are housed in the rear of the sprawling structure and a gym is used for recreation and after-school activities. Putting affordable housing there, Paul said Friday, would bring young families into a family-friendly area. He added that the borough is in the midst of a renaissance. By this, he was referring to small businesses settling onto Route 202 in the borough including the old Bantam Switch Factory, Arethusa’s restaurant, dairy store and coffee shop, Bantam Bread, the Nightingale restaurant and The Market, along with numerous other established businesses in Bantam. The Bantam Borough Board of Warden and Burgesses has not officially voted on whether to provide funding for the assessment, Borough Warden Dick Sheldon said Friday, but board members seemed receptive to the idea when they discussed it at their May meeting.
“The Burgesses seemed in favor of doing that,” said Sheldon. “I think it’s a good use for the property.”
The Burgesses plan to vote on whether to provide funding for the assessment at their June meeting, according to Sheldon.
If a Phase I study is completed, Sheldon said, an architect would then be brought in to create conceptual drawings for the affordable housing. The Bantam board has not yet met with the housing trust to discuss the concept, Sheldon said Friday, but will likely do so in the future. The post office and gymnasium in the annex building would remain under the current proposal, according to the discussion recounted in the minutes for the April 27 meeting of the Board of Selectmen, which also included Sheldon and representatives of the Litchfield Housing Trust. The number of housing units hasn’t been discussed, according to Sheldon — selectman and Litchfield Housing Trust member Jeffery Zullo, according to the minutes of the April 27 meeting, theorized that 15-20 units could be constructed, given the existing square footage of the building. Zullo and F. Robert Petricone and Joyce Briggs of the housing trust could not be immediately reached for comment Friday.
The affordable housing concept is the only proposal on the table for the future use of the annex building, Paul said Thursday.
The future of the town offices on site, if the idea became a reality, has not been decided, according to Paul.
The Board of Selectmen will consider the quotes for a Phase I environmental assessment of the property at its May 16 meeting, according to the agenda. The assessment must be done, Paul said Friday, regardless of the future use of the building.
Some years ago the Board of Selectmen and the Bantam Borough board discussed uses for the building, including relocating the offices in the Litchfield Town Hall on West Street in the center of Litchfield, to the annex. The West Street building houses the town’s assessor, tax collector, first selectman, probate court, town clerk and finance director’s offices, as well as the town’s records. Some believed consolidating all town offices in one location was a way to save money and use the annex building. Litchfield has also conducted several studies around the idea of relocating the town hall or building a new one, and the financial feasibility of using the Bantam annex