Around Town

Woman Who Fell Down at Outback Teen Center Two Years Ago Sues Town

By |

Though it may not be ready to collapse, the former Outback Teen Center building harbors a hazardous stair inside its vestibule that, two years ago, caused an out-of-town woman to trip and fall, causing serious injuries, according to a newly filed lawsuit. Stamford resident Patti Becker at about 1 p.m. on a Tuesday two years ago, while she was exiting the now-defunct teen center after an event, “fell from the single step riser in the entrance vestibule of the building and subsequently could not move unassisted,” according to the suit, filed against the town and teen center as well as the structure’s architects and builder, by her attorneys at Casper & De Toledo. She had been “unable to see the single step because it was not clearly marked and was made of brick, which was the same or similar material and color as the flooring in the vestibule,” the lawsuit said. Her injuries, some permanent, include left pubic rami fractures, as well as compression fracture of L4, left lower extremity radiculopathy, right low back pain, pain and suffering and emotional distress, the lawsuit said. Becker additionally racked up medical bills, “sustained a loss to her earning capacity” and “will be forced to suffer a loss of enjoyment of life’s leisure activities,” it said.

Government

‘It’s Like Someone Screaming ‘Fire’ in the Movie Theater When There Is No Fire’: Teen Center Found To Be Safe After Review by Its Builders

By |

Town officials said Tuesday that a new inspection of the former Outback Teen Center—shuttered for two months after an engineering firm had found it structurally unsound—shows that the building only needs relatively minor cosmetic work to make it usable. What that use may be remains a major, open question, after a nonprofit organization that had operated out of the 2001-built teen center failed to self-sustain and—following an aborted effort by a second group—handed it over to the town July 1. Yet the dramatic July 19 report from a Danbury-based firm—a report that Selectman Beth Jones said cost her sleep after reading it, as the study painted a picture a building that presented a danger to the New Canaan teens and others it was designed to serve—now appears to have drawn wrong conclusions. “It’s like someone screaming ‘fire’ in the movie theater when there is no fire,” Jones said at a regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen, held at Town Hall. “The engineering firm that first gave us that [report] should have said, ‘We are not qualified to do this, this is not the kind of building we do,’ or we should hold them responsible for a completely false report,” Jones said.

Government

‘These Good Folks Still Feel Invested’: Town Council Subcommittee Hits Pause on Thoughts of Razing Outback, Seeks Info On Restoration, Alternative Uses

By |

Saying the careful, considerate handling of the privately funded and operated building that opened 15 years ago as the Outback Teen Center is important to New Canaan’s future, members of the town’s legislative body are calling for more information on what’s needed to restore the recently shuttered structure. Though fire officials declared the Outback unsound and unsafe on the strength of a third-party engineering study commissioned after the town inherited it, members of a Town Council subgroup feel it’s worth exploring whether there’s a viable path to alternative uses for the building, according to councilman Sven Englund. The Subcommittee on Land Use and Infrastructure at a meeting this month spent time hearing from some of those who had founded and supported the former teen center and “there is no desire to demolish the Outback building without assessing all the options,” said Englund, who co-chairs the subcommittee with Cristina Aguirre Ross. “These good folks still feel invested in the original mission of the Outback in serving the youth population of New Canaan. We hope to honor those sentiments going forward.”

He added: “Relationships between the Town and existing and future public-private partnerships depend on the respectful consideration we will give this matter.”

At the Aug.

News

Letter: ‘Rush To Judgment’ on Future of Outback Building

By |

Dear Editor,

I am concerned that a rush to judgment has been made over the building behind Town Hall formerly know as the Outback Teen Center. While I am not qualified to assess the building, I find it astounding to learn that it has experienced such a dramatic decline over a short period. I believe the public needs a more detailed explanation of its condition before the drastic step is made to tear it down. Over 15 years ago, 1,000 individual gifts in excess of $2.2 million were made to construct the Outback. Its Board of Directors successfully operated it as a private non-profit entity to benefit New Canaan’s teenagers with activities “by teens and for teens” deemed to provide young people with independence and positive self-worth.

News

Letter: Public Treatment of Outback Board Members ‘Disheartening’

By |

Dear Editor,

It saddens me to read about the current situation with the former Outback building. What is most disheartening is the poor public treatment of its former board members. The Outback Teen Center Inc. was founded based on the best intentions of committed and dedicated volunteers and donors who supported a concept and a building for the benefit of our children. Hit with an unsustainable financial model as brought to light by the Harvard Community Partners and a number of nonprofit professionals, this nonprofit was forced to fold. With the building now in the hands of town—is it necessary to put into question the integrity of its former board members?