A new, private owner of the iconic Playhouse on Elm Street would have more flexibility in bringing the 1923 building to ADA compliance than its current owner—the town of New Canaan—does right now, public works officials say.
Anyone who owns the cupola-topped brick structure will be responsible for ensuring it is ADA-compliant, Department of Public Works Director Michael Pastore told the Town Council on Thursday. The difference is that while the town is required to bring the building up to code now, a private owner is allowed to work in ADA upgrades with other renovations, and over time, he said.
The Playhouse subject to ADA because the building is “considered a public space—people gather there and the town has the ultimate responsibility as the owner,” Pastore said during the legislative body’s regular meeting.
“If we were to sell it off to private developer, they would still be responsible for keeping it in compliance with ADA. Obviously the town’s responsibility [would be] gone,” Pastore said at the meeting, held in the Sturgess Room at New Canaan Nature Center. “What they do is, as renovations take place, 20 percent of the money [spent] is set aside for ADA requirements, and eventually in time you would get there. That doesn’t relieve the owner of responsibility. It just takes the town out of the picture.”
So, for example, if a private developer wants to put $100,000 into renovating the theater’s main space, they’d put aside $20,000 for ADA upgrades.
The comments come as the council weighs a capital budget request of $2.1 million for the Playhouse in fiscal year 2016 (see page 45 of this document)—a figure that’s based on a visual walkthrough rather than hands-on engineering studies.
A group is forming now under a Town Council subcommittee to study the building’s needs, and the town’s, with an eye on making recommendations. Chairman Bill Walbert said he’s met with First Selectman Rob Mallozzi on the matter and that “we have plenty of people in the Town Council willing to step up and work with selectman’s office to figure this out.”
No one really knows how much it will cost to get the Playhouse building into safe, working order.
Pastore said his main concern is with the unknown condition of the exterior brick walls of the structure. Also a concern is that the wet sprinkler system for the theater hangs over a drop-ceiling that’s carrying a layer of insulation.
The $2.1 million estimate doesn’t include contaminant abatement, which is pegged at another $450,000 based on a square-footage calculation of what it cost to do similar work at the renovated Town Hall.
Getting a better idea of just how much money is needed to restore the Playhouse and bring it up to compliance will itself cost money, Pastore said: $30,000 for a study on abatement, $10,000 on ADA and $5,000 on what’s needed in terms of the sprinkler system.
Based on all those costs, the Board of Finance last month broached the prospect that New Canaan should get out of the movie theater business. Mallozzi the following week told NewCanaanite.com that the town isn’t in danger of losing the building itself, though New Canaan should find a private owner.
The DPW released the full, detailed report on what’s needed at the Playhouse in the public packet for Thursday’s meeting (starting on page 78 of this PDF).
They fall into five major buckets:
- Building envelope, $550,000
- Accessibility, $1,120,000
- Exterior drainage, $200,000
- Overall upkeep, $200,000
- Abatement, $450,000
The major figure is accessibility and “the building was never meant to be ADA-compliant,” Pastore said.
“Over the years, the best has been done to put in ramps and put in bathrooms—they did what could be done but most of it is marginal. For instance, the ramp might meet the code but it doesn’t have the proper landings on either side. The bathrooms again meet the code, but really it would be very difficult to negotiate. Finally, you get into a problem when you go into the theater. It’s a steep slope and you have to account for the ADA wheelchairs and you can’t have them in one location. You’re supposed to scatter them proportionately. So now what do you do? Do you redo that whole floor? Likewise when you come outside, you have steps. You can’t have steps.”
Councilmen asked about the immediate capital needs of the Playhouse. For example, Sven Englund asked about the condition of the cupola. Pastore said that the cupola itself isn’t in danger but that, typically, detail materials on roofs are what go first—in this case, the consultants who walked through the structure weren’t happy with the flashing around the cupola, he said.
Councilman John Engel asked about the possibility of counteracting the porous brick by coating it with a waterproofing sealant. Pastore said that would done, though some brick would need to be replaced outright.
Engel also asked what material would be used in fixing the roof of the structure and Pastore answered that a membrane (rubber) material would have a life of about 30 years.