Seymour Selectmen on Tuesday (March 19) unanimously approved paying Facility Support Services LLC of Hamden $2,500 to conduct an indoor air quality assessment of the Community Center building at 20 Pine St.
The community center is one of four old town buildings that officials have been grappling with over the past several months.
They say the facilities are inefficient and are too expensive to maintain.
Last year the town charged a 12-member volunteer committee with making recommendations on how to deal with the four buildings:
- 1 First St., the town hall building, where most town government offices are located.
- 20 Pine St., the town’s community center, where the senior center and recreation departments are housed.
- 29 Maple St., the former Anna LoPresti School, which the town closed to combine with Chatfield School.
- 98 Bank St., a town-owned property that houses the Board of Education offices and leases space to the Naugatuck Valley Health District.
The committee issued a report to Selectmen in December outlining options to reconfigure the town’s use of its space. The report is posted at the end of this story.
Instead of going through with one of the suggested recommendations, selectmen asked First Selectman Kurt Miller to get more information on the cost of maintaining the buildings and repairs needed to refurbish them.
As part of the air quality review, the Community Center will be evaluated for contaminants, including mold, fungi and other organic compounds, Miller said at Tuesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting.
Another major concern is the boiler, Miller said. Removing the boiler and installing a new one would cost between $68,000 and $70,000, he said.
When costs of removing asbestos and renovating the oil tank are added, the estimate rises to $100,000, according to consultant and local engineer Don Smith.
Miller said he’s looking into the possibility of the Boys & Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley using the Community Center’s gymnasium.
He said he’s spoken with town Recreation Director Jack Ahern, who he said is ​“comfortable” with the idea.
It would cost between $6,000 and $7,000 to make safety upgrades in the gym, according to the Fire Marshal’s office, Miller said.
Miller was noncommittal when asked by Selectman Karen Stanek about whether developers are interested in buying the building.
“We’re putting a whole lot of money for a (new) skate park next to a building we may potentially sell,” Stanek said.
There’s a back-up site for the skate park at Sochrin’s Pond, Miller said, if the Community Center property isn’t available.
A decision would need to need to be made ​“in a month or so” about the location of the skate park, he said.
In February, selectmen voted unanimously to pay up to $3,000 for Blue Ribbon Appraisals, LLC, a West Haven firm, to appraise the LoPresti School, with a view to eventually selling it.
Seymour Building Review Committee Report by ValleyIndyDotOrg
