Moynihan backs 1913 library preservation: Anything is possible in New Canaan
Grace Duffield
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The 1913 wing of the New Canaan Library on Main Street is the center of a controversy as residents try to decide if it should be demolished or not after the new library is built next door to it. Picture taken April 19, 2021.Grace Duffield / Hearst Connecticut Media
First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said he has received “very little feedback,” as of Tuesday, April 20 after he voiced support for preservation of the 1913 New Canaan Library, a topic that has sparked controversy in recent months.
He said the old building has “historic value” during a Planning and Zoning Commission special public hearing, on Thursday, April 15 and that the old building and new 44,000 square proposed building “can coexist.”
On February 22
nd, 2021, I wrote to the Board of Selectmen, saying that when the Planning and Zoning Commission held its public hearings on the new library, I would have a plan ready to present, which would show the 1913 building remaining in its current place, working harmoniously with the new library building.
I do have that plan ready, but I am making a few adjustments to it based on observations and input from members of the Board of Selectmen and Town Council. But, before finalizing and releasing it, and then describing my own “Saving 1913” Library Plan, I have evaluated the new library’s own “Town Green” plan, a copy of which is attached. In my opinion, it is a profoundly, and fundamentally, flawed plan in many respects, just as is, with or without any attempt to retain any portion of the current 1913 library building. My observations and evaluation are described below.
New Canaan Library plans revealed: Space for experiential learning
Grace Duffield
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The landscape will take into account native plants, pollinator pathways and animal habitats pathway according to plans for the new New Canaan Library, which were presented at the Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday, March 30.Contributed / New Canaan LibraryShow MoreShow Less
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The teen library will include areas for co-working as part of plans for the new New Canaan Library.Contributed photo / New Canaan LibraryShow MoreShow Less
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The children s library will be twice the size of the present one according to plans for the new New Canaan Library.Contributed photo / Contributed photoShow MoreShow Less
An overhead view of the proposed new library. Specs by Turner
New Canaan Library through many early design iterations sought to include the original 1913 building, the organization’s executive director said last week.
Yet in acquiring an adjacent South Avenue property in 2017, opening up new possibilities for the best possible design, as well as a fundraising feasibility study “and a careful assessment of the functional needs for the building and grounds, the design could no longer incorporate the original facade into the building within these parameters,” Lisa Oldham told members of the Planning & Zoning Commission during their regular meeting.
“The library then began to explore how it might retain the original structure, freestanding on-site,” Oldham said during the March 30 meeting, held via videoconference. “Several options for relocating it on the green were explored. In weighing these options, the library considered the following: First, the cost to rebuild the s
I am writing to support the Board of Education budget as proposed which includes a change for healthy school start times for all our children.
I am the mother of four children, a 15-year-old New Canaan High School freshman, an 11-year-old in 5th grade at Saxe, a 5-year-old in kindergarten at South and a 3-year-old enjoying another year at home with me. I will be in the New Canaan public school system for 14 more years.
This past fall I transitioned three children to three new schools. Like many of us, I am regularly dealing with changes to schedules; having children in quarantine, attending school in person, remotely, morning kindergarten, hybrid 2-day a week schedule, hybrid 75% schedule, every other Wednesday, half day Wednesdays, it has been quite the year for all of us. I actually say that last sentence with a big smile on my face, because, thanks to [Superintendent of Schools] Dr. [Bryan] Luizzi, my children have enjoyed a significant amount of in-person full time learnin