Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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Boricua Soul Trailer
 

1996 New Canaan High School graduate Toriano Fredericks is about halfway to his $15,000 goal in an online fundraising campaign in support of his vision for a food truck in the Durham area of North Carolina that features “bold flavors mixing Southern Soul, Caribbean Flair and Euro-African Roots.” Tori is a fellow Parade Hill Road native and we absolutely wish him the very best of luck in his venture. His “Boricua Food Truck” (nicknamed the “The Soul Patrol,” you can “like” his business here on Facebook) is named “from the Taíno name for Puerto Rico, Boriquen, Boricuas were the natives who lived in what is known today as Puerto Rico,” the business’s website says. “Puerto Rican Boricua means ‘Brave and noble lord.’ Borinquen means ‘Land of the brave and noble lords.’ ” Check out the video above for more of Toriano’s story, and click here for information on how to back his venture through Kickstarter. Good luck, Tori! ***

Firefighters at 7:17 p.m. last Thursday responded to a report of a fire at the Playhouse on Elm Street after a smoke detector in the lobby was triggered.

Business

New Canaan Playhouse Committee Established to Identify Funding, Uses

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What’s the best way to operate the town-owned New Canaan Playhouse? That’s the heart of the question that the New Canaan Playhouse Committee is charged with addressing, members the Board of Selectmen said Tuesday as they formally appointed a panel of locals from the Town Council, selectmen and Board of Finance to make recommendations concerning future of the Elm Street fixture. While officials have said New Canaan is not in danger of losing the building, the committee will consider funding mechanisms to raise the estimated $3 to $4 million to bring the 1923-built structure up to code, as well as additional uses for the space. “The Playhouse Committee is tasked with the exploration of the public and private options leading to the funding of capital improvements, as noted in the 2015 budget review,” First Selectman Rob Mallozzi said during the meeting, held in the training room of the New Canaan Police Department. The committee is composed of John Engel, Steve Karl, and Joe Paladino of the Town Council, Neil Budnick of the Board of Finance and Beth Jones of the Board of Selectmen.

Around Town

‘It’s Part of Why People Come to This Town’: Officials Discuss Future of New Canaan Playhouse

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Possibilities for New Canaan Playhouse include expanding its offerings to include live performances, shifting toward a classic and independent film venue under a public-private partnership or simply continuing as-is with the town footing the bill for sorely needed, high-cost capital improvements, a panel of local stakeholders said Wednesday night. No one in town government is interested in “having a developer come in and ‘mini-mall-ing’ the Playhouse or ‘Gap-ing’ ” the iconic 1923 structure, panelist First Selectman Rob Mallozzi said during a New Canaan League of Women Voters-sponsored discussion on the future of the building. “The idea is, quite frankly and I think legitimately, is we want to keep that an environment for entertainment, and my only hope is that stays as a Playhouse and provides Hollywood shows, or, ideally, it morphs into something much more exciting—a place that houses live entertainment, simulcast broadcasts from major venues across the world on arts and cultural programming, or that shows some more independent movies,” Mallozzi said at the panel discussion, held in the Sturgess Room at the New Canaan Nature Center. “But I think it is a real opportunity for this community to expand the offerings of that theater, and have it run by a private group instead of the town running it, so to speak.”

More than 50 people attended the 2-hour discussion, moderated by the League of Women Voters’ Kate Hurlock. In addition to Mallozzi, panelists included: George Maranis, who had been serving as town administrator when the town acquired the Playhouse for about $2.2 million in 2007; Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tucker Murphy, whose organization is located in the building; Department of Public Works Buildings Superintendent Bill Oestmann; and Jerry Miller, a New Canaan-based attorney and member of the New Canaan Kiwanis Club who is also a founding member of the Ridgefield Playhouse.

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Did You Hear … ?

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Many New Canaanites by now have seen a rendering of the Midcentury Modern-inspired commercial building that John and Melissa Engel have planned for the lot at 215 Elm St. The architect on the project is Westport-based Frederick William Hoag. Some time after John Engel explained what he had in mind to a University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation professor, a document that included some truly fascinating concepts came in from students (see above). The Maryland architecture program been called the only one in the nation that includes professional Masters programs and related PhD-level studies in planning, preservation and real estate development within the same school. ***

Bill Egan, the newly hired principal of New Canaan High School, has gotten into the spirit of the job very quickly: At his formal introduction at the Board of Education meeting on Monday night, board member Sheri West astutely noted, Egan was sporting a NCHS Rams tie.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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The weekend before last was so windy that, despite the vents in them, the windscreens on the new tennis courts at New Canaan High School actually bent the fence, parks officials say. (The company that installed the windscreens was scheduled to come back early this week to fix the fence at no cost to the town.)

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This week’s warmer daytime temps will have New Canaanites thinking about spending summer in the sun. One of the best deals—and best-kept secrets—in town will be had at Kiwanis Park, where daily passes for adults are just $2, and $1 for kids. ***

There’s no truth to the rumor that New Canaan’s iconic Gates Restaurant is going to be sold, the Forest Street fixture’s owner tells us. ***

The former New Canaan Public Schools lunch lady who has brought a lawsuit saying that her ex-boss created a hostile work environment is upping the number of witness depositions in the case from nine to 15, according to a filing Friday.