Let's not destroy another building that reflects New Canaan's heritage. It's important to preserve Mead Park Brick Barn for future generation's appreciation and enjoyment.
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Architect Richard Bergmann's Interpretation of the Brick Barn Preserved
Architect Stephen Rowley's Rendering of the Brick Barn Preserved
In the early years of the automobile, Standard Oil was a pioneer in the delivery of gasoline, kerosene and lubricants to "filling stations" in horse drawn wagons. In 1914 there were still 794 harness vehicles in use throughout Standard's fields, principally in rural territory.
View of approach to Mead Park Brick Barn from Park Street
Photographed from the end papers of Readings in 'New Canaan History' published by the New Canaan Historical Society in 1949. Future Brick Barn is indicated in red.
Alternating 1 Flemish bond row, 5 stretcher rows; 2 or 3 tows of headers as lintels
Note bluestone sill and very long, original glass panes in window, with deteriorated white paint.
Later concrete block chimney to be removed, along with oil tank, if rehabilitated.
MEAD PARK BRICK BARN
April 26, 2011 Results of Selectmen's Meeting
Friends of MPBB who attended today's Selectmen's meeting are pleased to report that the Selectmen voted unanimously not to proceed at this time with demolition plans for the MPBB. The two bids received for the demolition ($135,000 and $400,000+), exceeded the funds currently reserved (approximately $18,000) and the Selectmen did not want to pursue appropriating new funds for the purpose. The Selectmen agreed that restoration and beautification projects be considered and recommended the Parks and Recreation Department be given that responsibility because the Barn is located in a public park.
The Selectmen acknowledged that they had been given several proposals that merited consideration, including one from the Friends of MPBB. The Friends' proposal is broad in scope and offers many generous professional in-kind services of several Friends in architecture, landscape architecture, grant writing and other areas useful to restoring the Barn. Any Friend who wishes to support this effort with additional services should contact Robin Beckett (rombeckett@aol.com) or Mimi Findlay (findlayantiques@mindspring.com).
CONGRATULATIONS!
Mead Park Brick Barn was officially listed on the CT Register of Historic Places, November 3, 2010 at the unanimous recommendation of The CT Historic Preservation Council.
This esteemed Council considers the following objective data: significance in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering and culture.
United States Department of the Interior
Richard O'Connor, Ph.D., Letter Continued
ARCHITECT'S RENDERING
Architect Richard Bergmann's Interpretation of the Brick Barn Preserved
Architect's Rendering
Architect Stephen Rowley's Rendering of the Brick Barn Preserved
Grants, Funding and Adaptive Re-use Facts
The time has come for the Town to make a sound decision based on facts and withdraw its plans for demolition of the Barn regardless of the demolition cost. And the time has come to give supporters of the Barn a chance to repurpose its use, to utilize the vast resources available from the state to make this investment and for the Town to be a good neighbor and an exemplary manager of its assets both fixed and financial. Here are some facts to consider.
Grants/Funding Support for the Barn
The Barn could qualify for approximately $700,000 of grants, of which approximately $500,000 are outright. Most importantly, because it is owned by a municipality and on the CT Register of Historic Places the Barn qualifies for many types of grants. See www.meadparkbrickbarn.blogspot.com for list of sources and amounts.
Qualifies for the Barn Grants
The Town’s “garage” in 1901 was the Barn occupied solely by horses and carts used to deliver the Standard Oil Depot’s fuel and today is qualified to apply from CT Trust for grants from the Barn Grant Program (www.cttrust.org/1084) because it is at least 75 years old, it is listed on the CT Register (11/10), and is located in a public view-shed .
Adaptive Re-use
The Town’s adaptive reuse of the Barn as a garage--taking an historic structure and repurposing it for modern use—has not been successful within the public park as it let the Barn fall into disrepair, become overgrown with shrubs, and be used as a truck parking lot. This is not a reason for demolition. Successful adaptive reuse considers location, accessibility, maintenance and purpose. The Barn has location and accessibility but requires improved maintenance and a park-appropriate use that would visually and productively contribute to the neighborhood and community.
CT Historical and Architectural Resources Survey (HARS)
The Barn was not part of the 1987 HARS in New Canaan because that survey had limited funding and therefore limited scope. Many other important structures were also excluded. In 2010, the New Canaan Preservation Alliance, funded entirely by the state, began a new comprehensive survey with the intention of inventorying all the Town’s structures of a certain age, not just a sample. The eastern portion of the downtown survey is now complete and will be filed soon in the library, with the Planning Department and at the Historical Society.
CT Register of Historic Places
The process and outcome of listing a structure on the CT Register is generally misunderstood. The Register’s listing carries prestige and offers restricted access to significant state funding: specifically up to $200,000 for capital improvement. Criteria for listing a structure do not include a town’s plans for its demolition but only the structure’s historic, architectural and cultural importance. Anyone can present an application to the CT Historic Preservation Council, not just the owners. Independent state-appointed professionals, who are not in contact with the applicant, evaluate proposals.
Town’s Intention to Demolish
The Town’s 10 year old plan for demolition is not relevant since the adoption of the Demolition Delay Ordinance of 2006 which establishes a specific process and timetable for demolitions of historic properties. The Ordinance allows a “delay” of 90 days to a demolition but does stop it. The Ordinance requires the Review Committee “to reach out proactively” to owners and inform them “of tax benefits, grants, and economic, cultural, and aesthetic benefits of historic preservation, and to encourage the preservation, rehabilitation and reuse of such structures” yet this information and encouragement was not presented to the Town during the hearing.
Public Support
There is widespread and expanding public support for keeping and repurposing the Barn. See www.gopetition.com/petition/39476.html especially petitioners’ comments. Lists of resident petitioners by name—over 500 including all petitions circulated by the Friends of Mead Park Brick Barn--were handed to Jeb Walker in November. Support for demolition appears to be from a very small but vocal group who do not necessarily represent the views of New Canaan residents as a whole.
Taxpayer Funds Appropriated
There is no legal requirement to use funds previously appropriated for a discretionary demolition. The Barn is structurally sound; engineers have estimated a cost of between $100,000 to $200,000 to make it code compliant. Rehabilitation grants are available.
Open Space
The Barn occupies a footprint of 800 sq feet in Mead Park’s 24 acres which is .08% or less than a tenth of a percent of the Park’s land. The argument to eliminate the Barn for open space cannot be taken seriously.
Town officials should abandon the demolition plan for the Mead Park Brick Barn. Instead they should acknowledge citizen support for its adaptive reuse, recognize and take advantage of state funding for its improvement and embrace ideas to see it as an opportunity rather than a problem.
Robin M. Beckett
Replica of 1902 Horse Drawn Stove Oil Tank Wagon
In the early years of the automobile, Standard Oil was a pioneer in the delivery of gasoline, kerosene and lubricants to "filling stations" in horse drawn wagons. In 1914 there were still 794 harness vehicles in use throughout Standard's fields, principally in rural territory.
STATE REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES REQUIREMENTS MET
The quality of significance in American history, architecture, archaeology, and culture is present in districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects of state and local importance that possess integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and associations, and:
1 that are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to our history and the lives of persons significant in our past; or
2 that embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method or construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or
3 that have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important to pre-history or history.
FRIENDS OF THE MEAD PARK BRICK BARN
Many concerned New Canaan residents and statewide Connecticut historic preservationists are wishing to rally residents
to save Mead Park Brick Barn.
New Canaan residents have expressed an interest in historic preservation and revitalizing the structure into a usable venue for the benefit of all Town residents and visitors to Mead Memorial Park.
Please join us to save this unique and significant part of New Canaan's heritage.
Write a Comment, then Copy and Paste the following URL and send it to everyone who appreciates the special character and charm of our Brick Barn, and ask that they forward the Blog to their friends.
http://www.meadparkbrickbarn.blogspot.com
Thank you.
SIGN THE PETITION!
Please click:
http://www.gopetition.com/petition/39476.html
to call on the Town Officials of New Canaan, CT to postpone demolition of the Mead Park Brick Barn
at 64 Richmond Hill Road, and rehabilitate this historically significant building
for the benefit of preserving the cultural aspects of this structure and providing a new function for the benefit of New Canaan residents and visitors to
Mead Memorial Park.
Sally.hines@ci.new-canaan.ct.us
Robert.Mallozzi@ci.new-canaan.ct.us
Please "cc" Friends at: brickbarn64@gmail.com
Thank you for your support.
Grants from State and Federal Governments
Funding sources for Community Based Projects organized by Non Profits and Municipalities Utilizing the Site
1. Planning Grants:
a. If CLG up to $2,800 (Federal) and $30,000 matching grants to municipalities (CT Commission on Culture & Tourism / State)
b. National Trust Preservation Fund (National Trust for Historic Preservation / Federal)
i. Provides two types of assistance to nonprofit organizations and public agencies:
1. Matching grants from $500 to $5,000 for preservation planning and educational efforts, and
2. Intervention funds for preservation emergencies. Matching grant funds may be used to obtain professional expertise in areas such as architecture, archeology, engineering, preservation planning, land-use planning, fund raising, organizational development and law as well as to provide preservation education activities to educate the public.
c. Barn Grant (CT Trust for Historic Preservation / State)
i. For conditions assessments, feasibility studies and minor stabilization projects
1. Conditions Assessment: the Trust will pay 75% of costs up to $1,500.00; the owner is responsible for the rest in cash. In kind match is not allowable.
2. Feasibility Study: the Trust will pay 75% of costs up to $1,500.00; the owner is responsible for the rest in cash. In kind match is not allowable.
3. Stabilization: the Trust will pay 50% of costs up to $5,000.00; the owner is responsible for the rest in cash.
ii. All grants require a non-state cash match. In kind match is not allowable
d. HPTAG (CT Trust for Historic Preservation / State) Most grant awards are between $2,500 and $20,000 and require a 1:1 match of non-state funds
i. Direct Preservation Planning Assistance: (technical assistance)
1. Feasibility studies for re-use of a historic resource, business plans and strategic plans for resource adaptability.
2. Structural and engineering analyses of historic resources.
3. Historic Structures Reports
ii. Organizational Development and Program Support: (preservation planning)
1. Projects or plans that strengthen the organizational structure and direction of an organization whose mission is directed to community preservation, including governance, financial management, fundraising, staffing.
2. Preservation projects that have potential to connect with larger/broader preservation efforts or plans in a community.
3. Projects or programs that add to the technical expertise of preservationists or a collaborative group.
2. Exhibit planning and program implementation - designed to provide for the needs of heritage organizations
a. CT Humanities Council (State)
i. Heritage and Revitalization Fund - to build vital heritage organizations that bring history to a broad public
1. Major Funds - up to $50,000
2. Discretionary Funds - up to $10,000
ii. Funding for technical assistance (HPTAG), start-ups, planning, implementation and professional development
3. Capital Improvement
a. CT programs--two capital improvement grant-in-aid programs that recognize the importance of the state’s historic and cultural assets and their role in enhancing the quality of life for Connecticut’s citizens and the state’s economic vitality.
i. Properties on the National or State Register of Historic Places, which are owned by a municipality or nonprofit organization, are eligible for these 50 percent matching grants-in-aid (program not currently active).
ii. Historic Restoration Fund (CT Commission on Culture & Tourism / State)
1. $10,000 to $200,000 is available;
2. 1:1 cash match
b. CT STEAP programs: New Canaan is eligible
i. Up to $500,000
1. Economic development projects such as (a) constructing or rehabilitating commercial, industrial, or mixed-use structures and (b) constructing, reconstructing, or repairing roads access ways, and other site improvements
2. Pilot historic preservation and redevelopment programs that leverage private funds
(Prepared by Members of the Friends of Mead Park Carriage Barn in consultation with CT Trust, the Circuit Rider, National Trust, and the CT Office of Culture and Tourism)
Brick Barn on Richmond Hill Road near Grove Street
View of approach to Mead Park Brick Barn from Park Street
BRICK BARN, MEAD MEMORIAL PARK, NEW CANAAN, CONNECTICUT
Located on 64 Richmond Hill Road just East of the exit road from Mead Memorial Park,
this 110 year old, two story red brick building with cultural and historical value to our charming town,
is a unique and significant piece of New Canaan's heritage.
Brick Barn on Richmond Hill is Named to State Register of Historic Places
Brick Barn on Richmond Hill is Named to State Register of Historic Places
Whatever you call it--garage, carriage barn, brick barn, or depot--the building at 64 Richmond Hill Rd. is now on the Connecticut State Register of Historic Places.
On Wednesday morning, the 11 members of the Connecticut Historic Preservation Council unanimously voted to add the modest building to the register.
The barn, which is slated for demolition, has been the focus of a battle between preservationists who want it saved, and neighbors, who would like to see the building razed and the land on which it sits incorporated into Mead Park.
Mimi Findlay, who spearheaded the preservationists' efforts, said she and six other of the building's supporters attended the meeting of the meeting, which was held in Hartford. She said approximately 15 residents who support the demolition also attended the meeting.
"It was a repeat of the Selectmen's meeting a couple weeks ago," Findlay said. "As the applicants, we spoke first, answering the criteria. It's how you look at the criteria. They don't consider the current use, the proposed use or the zoning. They only consider the historic nature of the building."
First Selectman Jeb Walker was one of those who spoke against the building's designation on the register. "I expressed in the strongest terms possible without losing my temper, as First Selectmen and representing the town, that I was firmly opposed to the designation of the buldiing on the historic register. I remain opposed to that," he said.
Additionally, Walker said, "I'm also distressed that private citizens in town would seek to circumvent the town processes by going to the state without any notification to the town that they were going to change the nature of a town building."
The Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism website outlines the criteria used by the Historic Preservation Council as it examines eligibility for inclusion on the register. An application is judged for "its significance in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering and culture."
"This building made a significant contribution to our history," Findlay told Patch. "The use of fuel oil changed the way New Canaan people lived. They used whale oil and candles until kerosene became available. I have a Sears catalog that lists all the products they sold that used kerosene."
"It has no significance in New Canaan's history," Walker told Patch. "The (town's) historical review committee and the historical society have both weighed in against that designation."
Findlay said the National Park Service, which oversees the Register, "likes to measure simple industrial buildings,"
"This is a young methodology," she said. "It was not around until the 60's and 70's. Its difficult for people over 65 to understand, people who are for the demolition have no concept of how a little working class building like that could be significant."
"Now buckets and buckets of money will be available for us to apply for the renovation of the building," Findlay said. But she added this doesn't mean the building is safe from demolition.
"It is still in the hands of the Selectmen, whether or not to take advantage of the funding that's available to have a very fine 1,600 square foot structure that they don't have to build from scratch."
Walker said he will press forward with the building's demolition. "We continue the march we had initiated," he said. " We will take appropriate steps with the state to deal with environmental issues in the building and as soon as we get that resolved we'll issue another request for proposal for contractors who are qualified to do that work."
The Mead Park Brick Barn - The Value of a Building
As a member of the Friends of the Mead Park Brick Barn, a resident of New Canaan, and a Preservation Architect, a number of things have been puzzling and disturbing me. They all boil down to this: why can't those who wish to tear down the Barn/Garage see it as something of value, something historic? The two major arguments presented for demolition are it was not included in the 1987 Historic Survey, and it is an eyesore which blocks the view of the Park and therefore lowers property value.
On the first argument I would respond, as one who has been involved in the preparation of successful National Register nominations, I think it was an omission that the barn was not part of a historic district listing for Richmond Hill, if such a listing was being contemplated at that time. It is of a similar period and character to the surrounding structures and should have been included in any survey that took place. Basing current historic designation of a building in New Canaan on a 1987 survey is dated thinking. Perhaps the building was not old enough at the time of the 1987 survey but since our new town criteria for historic review is 50 years, it would certainly be included in any new Historic Survey. How would any of our Moderns fare if held to a 1987-based designation?
On the second argument the building is not being judged for its historic value at all; it is merely being judged for the less than picturesque state in which the Town has allowed it to reside. Those who chant "return the land to the park" are not being historically accurate, since the building predates the park, being constructed when the land behind it was a swamp and town dump. For ten years they say they have been trying to get this building torn down. Again, perhaps thinking that needs to be updated.
For the sixteen years that I have lived in New Canaan and the five years that I visited on the weekends before moving here, I saw antique building after antique building being demolished to make way for a new cookie-cutter replacement - all in the name of the almighty dollar. In every case what replaced the original was not an improvement in my point of view. What was gone was gone forever. What remained was a Disney-fied version of a New England town.
So what is the value of a building? Is it based on its historic value? Is it based on the service it has given to the town in its role as an industrial building (as acknowledged by the National Park service in a letter posted on the Friends of Mead Park blog spot: http://www.meadparkbrickbarn.blogspot.com/), as a meeting place for town organizations, and a facilities building for the town? Is it based solely on its monetary value like so many things today? Can we use our creativity to arrive at a solution beyond the "tear it down" mentality? Can we see it for the asset that it is, and like other communities not use outdated surveys and thinking and take something that is already of historic value and create something of monetary value? Perhaps then everyone will be happy.
Could it be?
Happy Holidays!
History of Mead Park Brick Barn, 64 Richmond Hill Road
Abridged Version:
Constructed in 1901, the Brick Carriage Barn captures one hundred years of New Canaan's social and cultural history.
On September 15, 1901 Benjamin Mead and James Mead sold a lot to The Standard Oil Company of New York who built a brick carriage barn, with four stalls for two teams of horses, a stall for grain and a stall for tack room, with a center passageway for a kerosene delivery wagon, with a hayloft above.
Standard Oil shipped kerosene from its refineries by rail car to bulk stations from where horse-drawn tank wagons distributed it to grocery stores, general stores, drug stores and hardware stores, where it was sold to the consumer. These tank wagons also delivered to large farms, estates, and industrial or commercial sites.
In 1944 the Garden Center began planting the Gold Star Walk which borders the lake on the east. There was to have been a flowering memorial tree for each boy from New Canaan lost in the war.
The brick garage was used for various purposes before and during the World War II. A WPA sewing program for local women was headquartered on the second floor of the building. Women sewed clothes for refugees and folded bandages there, the American Legion held meetings in the building for years, as did other civic organizations, the VFW Fife and Drum Corps and the Town Band.
Presently, the pond is being dredged for the first time in decades, and there are plans to extend the Gold Star Walk to include all 36 of the native town World War II war dead with total of 36 flowering trees. In 2005 the Town of New Canaan appropriated funds to demolish the brick carriage barn, now garage.
The reason for the demolition is to add to the existing 24 acre park 800 more square feet of open space.
Join us in preserving an important piece of our town's heritage!
DOCUMENTATION: 64 Richmond Hill Road, New Canaan, CT
Full Documentation:
Interrelationship of buildings and surroundings.
When the brick carriage barn was constructed in 1901 it was at the southern edge of the industrial area of the small town of New Canaan, along the northern border of what was then known as the Dismal Swamp. The town's industrial area had grown up around the railroad tracks although, according to the Tax Assessors records, there were at least 11 houses standing on Richmond Hill by that time. Since the 1930's when the swamp was drained, Richmond Hill has evolved to become fully residential in character, while the industrial area has shrunk, with the former factories and warehouses along Pine Street having either disappeared or become converted to offices and retail uses.
Directly across Richmond Hill from the depot are two historic houses: two dating from 1820 one of which was moved from the corner of Main and Cherry Streets in 1950 (HRC minutes 4.16.09); it is now suffering from demolition by neglect, its roof having caved in recently. The house next to it, with the same absentee landlord, is now also showing signs of neglect. Behind the depot to the south and on either side is Mead Memorial Park, developed in the 1930’s; to the east along the edge of the park are recent brick condominiums., and the west edge of the park is bordered by the railroad tracks.
Other notable features of the building
In a community with comparatively few small-scale brick commercial buildings outside of the downtown, this vernacular building represents a locally distinctive late nineteenth century industrial architecture in what had originally been an industrial area along the railroad tracks.
Its segmental-arched windows are a carry-over from the late Victorian period, particularly in their use of the 2-course brick voussoirs which serve as lintels. All the sills are bluestone. The facade is organized with a clearly evident upper-story access door for the loading and unloading of hay, and other materials. The carriage barn has been altered with the addition of the enclosed outside stair accessing the second floor, but this addition appears to be well over 50 years of age and has acquired significance in its own right. The stair does not detract from the otherwise high physical integrity of the rest of the exterior.
The Flemish Bond brickwork (alternating stretcher-header-stretcher at every sixth row) abruptly changes at about 12 feet from the ground to an English Bond (all headers at every sixth row) as though a different mason had taken over to complete the work.
The asymmetrical fenestration appears to be original, the smaller windows on the east and west located at the ends of the stalls. The window sash and wooden frames appear to be original, with very thin meeting rails. The carriage door opening to the street has been widened but the replacement door toward the park is in the original framework. The north elevation is the only one with symmetrical fenestration, two square windows below two taller ones. Being 3 over 3, the original glass panes in the taller windows are twice as high as they are wide. Recessed panels in the gables, now filled in and painted white, might have contained identification or construction dates.
Inside, the one remaining horse stall encloses the furnace with a five foot high wall of painted planks with a molded cap. The stall posts were bolted to the ceiling beam and rested on raised concrete anchorages on the floor. There was a ventilating cupola in the gable, and a hatch for throwing hay down from the loft, both now closed. The lower floor is poured concrete, separated from the center pathway, scored into four-inch squares, from door to door by iron rails.
The building retains most of its original 1901 materials, especially all the tall thin panes of glass in the windows. Added in the 1920’s or 30’s were such materials as beaver board partitions, bead board on the walls and ceilings, and the finishes related to the staircase including the original red asphalt shingle cladding and the entrance door with its Arts and Crafts flavored 12-light window and paneling. Building elements that have disappeared include the ventilator cupola, one boarded-up window on the façade and the two pairs of wagon doors.
Historical or Architectural Importance
This unpretentious brick building has served a variety of needs of New Canaan residents and town employees for over a century, starting with its housing the wagon horse teams that delivered kerosene throughout the town. It captures one hundred years of the town’s social and cultural history.
On September 15, 1901
Benjamin Mead of New Canaan and James Mead of Greenwich sold a lot, 60’ wide by 100’ deep, along Richmond Hill Road near the intersection of Grove Street to The Standard Oil Company of New York
for $300. There the company built a carriage barn, with four stalls for two teams of horses, a stall for grain and a stall for tack room, with a center passageway for a kerosene delivery wagon, with a hayloft above
. Standard Oil shipped kerosene from its refineries by rail car to bulk stations from where horse-drawn tank wagons distributed it to grocery stores, general stores, drug stores and hardware stores, where it was sold to the consumer. These tank wagons also delivered to large farms, estates, and industrial or commercial sites
.
After World War I the deliveries were usually made with a gas powered truck and the carriage barn became known as a garage, the hay-loft converted to upstairs offices or a meeting room, and to reach these upstairs rooms an outside staircase was added.
Behind the carriage barn were two tanks on brick foundations, one described in the November 8, 1901 New Canaan Messenger:
“The large tank belonging to the Standard Oil Company arrived a few days ago and has been placed in position on the brick foundation provided for it on the lot opposite Grove Street, on Richmond Hill Road.
The oil will be brought here by rail and this large receiving tank will be filled by a pipe directly from the cars. Many people in the neighborhood are worrying for fear that it will provide a public nuisance, but we think there is no ground for worriment.”
Another larger above ground tank was later added but the exact date is unknown. A local map prepared in 1927 shows these tanks both east of the building, where the parking area is now.
A Sanborn Map of 1927 shows the former carriage barn, now a garage, and several storage tanks, including a very large rectilinear one of fire-proof construction behind the brick garage, to its south-west. Competition from a local kerosene delivery service drove Standard Oil of New York out of this operation in New Canaan.
By 1930 the building was used by H & R Oil and Refuse Company
The twenty-four acres of Mead land surrounding the Standard Oil property was sold to the town in for one dollar in 1915 by the widow of Benjamin P Mead, upon his death. He had moved here from Greenwich around 1873 to manage a general store and became one of the town’s most distinguished citizens. For forty years Benjamin Mead had served in state and local government. The land along the railroad tracks was “part swamp, part gravel pit, and all an eyesore,,,part cranberry bog and unofficially used as a public dump …and a prolific source of mosquitoes.” Within a year a dam had been built and there was skating on a pond. Then for twenty years efforts to further develop the park languished. It was not until 1930 did the town appropriate large sums to the project and civic organizations stepped up to raise funds and create a comprehensive plan for its development. A good deal of progress had been achieved by 1933 when Federal Funds started to arrive. That year the town purchased the buildings and oil tanks from Standard Oil for $2,000, as the buildings were “badly needed.”
WPA funding was applied to the cost of the labor to plant over 2000 trees and shrubs round the park, while a Field House and a locker room were constructed in 1934 on the grounds.
“In 1944 the Garden Club began planting the Gold Star Walk which borders the lake on the east. There was to have been a flowering memorial tree for each boy from New Canaan lost in the war.”
The oil tanks were eventually removed, the remaining large fire-proof foundation to the south-west was converted to a two-bay brick and concrete garage in the 1960’s. This structure was demolished a couple of years ago. Photographic evidence of the brickwork pattern of the demolished garage shows that it was identical to the pattern on the existing garage.
The brick garage was used for various purposes before and during the World War II: “A WPA sewing program for local women, supervised by the late Margaret Liboratore, was headquartered on the second floor of the building.”
Women sewed clothes for refugees and folded bandages there, the American Legion held meetings in the building for years, as did other civic organizations. It served as a carpenter’s shop and a sculpture studio. Elementary School football teams changed into their uniforms there. “Among other groups that used it some years ago, were two musical organizations, the VFW Fife and Drum Corps and the Town Band.”
Eventually, the garage was used as a Department of Public Works garage for trucks, More trucks usually parked around and behind the facility, and today it provides storage for woodworking equipment, supplies, and various fuels.
Presently, the pond is being dredged for the first time in decades, and there are plans to extend the Gold Star Walk to include all 36 of the native town World War II war dead with total of 36 flowering trees. In 2005 the Town of New Canaan appropriated funds to demolish the brick carriage barn, now garage. All approvals are in place, including concurrence by the Planning and Zoning Commission that it is not inconsistent with the Town’s Plan of Conservation and Development to remove this structure for open space. The reason for the demolition is to add to the existing 24 acre park 800 more square feet of open space and offer a vista of the pond as you approach busy Richmond Hill down Grove Street.
Letters were written to request a demolition delay by several residents but these requests were unanimously denied the 90-day demolition delay by the Historical Review Committee on September 10, 2010.
The brick carriage barn was denied the delay by the Historical Review Committee on the basis that “although certain aspects of the building have elements of historical interest, that certain architectural details represent historical practice and that the activities carried out in the building had certain historical cultural aspects…the structure is not of an age, style, condition or character of such historical, architectural or cultural significance to the Town of New Canaan that the imposition of the requested 90-day demolition delay is merited.”
In a public notice the Town has requested that bids for the structure’s removal be submitted by October 7, 2010. The Town, should they proceed with the demolition, would like to do so before a hard freeze so as to have time to clear the site and prepare the ground for planting,
Bruce Clouette, an independent Industrial Archeologist working throughout Connecticut for over thirty-five years preparing National Register nominations, states, “I have never come across a ca.1900 oil delivery facility. … The building is just the kind of simple structure that I try to call attention to when I do historic surveys. They are so often overlooked, and yet played a role in the everyday life of their communities. More to the point, they recall ways of life that are now long gone (oil lamps, horse-drawn delivery, kerosene stoves). Not to get too nostalgic or geezerish, but I can still (fondly) recall the smell of our kerosene stove in Maine. It was an all-in-one unit that had burners, a little oven, and also had a hot water tank, not to mention heating the cottage on those nippy summer mornings in Maine. We didn't get delivery, instead having to drive to the village to fill the tank.”
Letter to The Honorable John W. Hetherington
Re: Save Mead Park Brick Barn
Dear Representative Hetherington:
I am writing to you as a preservation architect, a resident of New Canaan and a Friend of Mead Park Brick Barn and asking for your support and help in convincing the Town of New Canaan Selectmen, Jeb Walker, Robert Mallozzi and Sally Hines that the referenced structure, should not be demolished as planned by the Town and instead be adaptively reused in a new and more passive manner either by the Town or another organization.
Mead Park Brick Barn is presently a municipally owned building with a distinct history. It was built and operated by Standard Oil in 1901 and functioned as a kerosene depot and barn for horses and a wagon which delivered fuel to the neighborhood around Richmond Hill in New Canaan. Standard Oil selected this site which was at that time at the edge of a swamp because of its location downhill from the railroad crossing which allowed the fuel to be delivered to the depot site via a pipe (most likely also owned by Standard Oil). This building has stood the test of time, with the surrounding property becoming a community park, Mead Memorial Park, a 24 acre urban park. The Barn has a footprint of 800 sq feet and the Town has owned and operated it since 1933 initially for meetings for local organizations and as storage for park equipment and ultimately as a garage and storage facility.
The Town now intends to demolish the building responding to the cry for more open space from a select few and because the residents on Richmond Hill do not like its "run down" appearance as a result of poor maintenance by the Town and the inappropriate parking of unsightly municipal utility vehicles and equipment in a residential neighborhood. The Friends of Mead Park Brick Barn have gathered approximately 500 signatures via petition--residents who wish the Brick Barn saved from demolition and adaptively reused.
In November this structure was added to the Register of Historic Places in Connecticut by the Historic Preservation Council with a unanimous vote following a unanimous recommendation of its staff. The Friends of Mead Park Brick Barn informed HAER (Historic American Engineering Record) of this commercial/industrial structure and they have shown an interest in it as well--see the attached letter recently sent to the Selectmen.
Please consider urging the Town of New Canaan to abandon its plan for demolition and request that they consider the options for adaptive reuse of this unusual and rare structure which is part of the history of New Canaan and the State of Connecticut. The Friends of the Mead Park Brick Barn have developed a blogspot at http://www.meadparkbrickbarn.blogspot.com/ which contains images of and information on the history of the structure. If you need any further information on this issue please feel free to contact me.
Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.
Sincerely,
Rose Scott Rothbart
1878 Map of New Canaan, Connecticut
Photographed from the end papers of Readings in 'New Canaan History' published by the New Canaan Historical Society in 1949. Future Brick Barn is indicated in red.
Detail of South Elevation
Alternating 1 Flemish bond row, 5 stretcher rows; 2 or 3 tows of headers as lintels
Detail of Original South Window
Note bluestone sill and very long, original glass panes in window, with deteriorated white paint.
Original size of south door, with arched brick lintel.
Later concrete block chimney to be removed, along with oil tank, if rehabilitated.
New Canaan Patch On-Line
Articles
NOVEMBER 3, 2010
OCTOBER 18, 2010
OCTOBER 18, 2010
SEPTEMBER 20, 2010
http://newcanaan.patch.com/articles/almost-lost-a-last-look-at-the-richmond-hill-garage
Letters to the Editor
http://newcanaan.patch.com/articles/letter-to-the-editor-preserve-and-protect-what-we-cannot-create
NOVEMBER 8, 2010
http://newcanaan.patch.com/articles/letter-to-the-editor-why-the-rush-to-demolish-the-barn
http://newcanaan.patch.com/articles/letter-to-the-editor-mead-park-brick-barn-listed-on-the-csonnecticut-state-register-of-historic-places
OCTOBER 6, 2010
http://newcanaan.patch.com/articles/letter-to-the-editor-save-the-mead-park-carriage-barn
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