New Canaan Week in Review: Repairing, Reviving, Re-Imagining

 

Even as we brace for the possibility of yet more snow (ugh) that’s due Tuesday, New Canaanites are coming off of a week of repair and renewal, the theme of this Week in Review installment.

A venerable old home at God’s Acre is set to get some love from a new owner and townies are looking for signs that spring is arriving—in some cases, with a sense of urgency, to repair playing fields underfoot.

The town this week welcomed a prominent new resident (who chose New Canaan for a number of reasons, including what she and her partner judged to be superior-sized lots and homes) while the district launched searches for leaders in our schools.

One varsity football standout said he’s looking to a future on a college lacrosse field (with words that renewed our oldest rivalry), while our last locally owned pharmacy moves into a new space downtown and its former landlord seeks a new tenant.

The library, ahead of its rebuilding, is reorganizing its staff and launching new programs, while police renew their search for a brazen burglar after catching his partner and Philip Johnson Glass House re-imagines its beloved buildings and grounds as a place that accentuates and inspires creative artists.

 

Town Talker

New Canaan’s Historic District Commission heard from a resident this week that a bank had accepted the offer she and her husband made on the long-vacant home at 4 Main St.

The 1780 home visibly is in disrepair and news of its imminent restoration pleased many townies, including Janet Lindstrom, acting chairman of the commission, who said, in part: “We have been, as you know, very concerned about that house and the fact that there is actually going to be a buyer who is concerned and loves the older house is exciting to me.”

Paradise Lost

Interestingly, news of that prospective sale and the salvation it signifies followed an 0684-Old installment that looked at a grand hotel which had stood about a half-mile away before it was razed in 1950 (to make way for Morse Court parking lot).

The story of Birdsall House recalls a lost era of New Canaan—before non-intuitive, temperamental parking payment kiosks, at least.

Animal 411

Sadly, officers at our ever-busy animal control unit at the New Canaan Police Department had a red-tailed hawk die in their care after it apparently was struck by a car on the Merritt Parkway. As we report today, much of the unit’s week was dominated by dogs—two who got into a fight (not serious) after what is described as an invisible fence breach, and three others who were found roaming about.

Police

The local press corps heard from Sgt. Peter Condos on Monday that a Stamford man arrested in a brazen burglary in November—during which he was confronted by a homeowner with sleeping children in the house—said while in custody that he had a partner with him, but that the second man has since been deported to El Salvador.

We also heard about yet another underage drinking party, this one in the shadow of the police department itself. It led to the arrest on a misdemeanor charge of one teen and a citation for an infraction offense of her younger sister.

Sports

Lacrosse players and fans in Richmond, Va., are celebrating the decision that another New Canaan teen made—to play the sport at their university.

Frank Cognetta, already a star of the high school’s storied football team, told us during our interview that he’s entirely focused for now on besting our neighbors in Darien during the season that’s about to unfold.

Here’s part of what he said: “We want to beat Darien. We want to go out and every time we play Darien we want to beat them and hit them as hard as we can.”

We’ll also file this one under “Sports” though it could go under “Real Estate” or, as we did following our chat, “Local People” feature “Faces of New Canaan.” Tennis Hall of Famer Gigi Fernandez and her partner, Jane Geddes, moved to town last week after buying a home in New Canaan. We found Fernandez down-to-earth, funny and frank and absolutely candid in sharing what drew the family to New Canaan.

Series on Heroin and New Canaan

Finally, some of our readers have noticed that during this past week, we were light on some of the regular spot features we feature from around town.

We will return with those next week. Much of our time reporting this week was consumed by a series we ran Wednesday to Friday about the rise in heroin’s availability and use in our town (and this whole region—really the entire Northeast). Here are the three installments of this series for your review:

• Heroin and New Canaan, Part 1 of 3: Tracing and Defining a Problem
• Heroin and New Canaan, Part 2 of 3: Parenting
• Heroin and New Canaan, Part 3 of 3: ‘Reach Out to a Person’