The “nays” appeared to be in the majority at an Essex Town Hall meeting convened to discuss new environmental policies for Essex that would affect the owners of property next to the Connecticut River, for the overall protection of the river and its shores. The “informational” meeting was convened by the Essex Zoning Commission at Town Hall on December 19.

Essex is a member of an eight town Gateway Conservation District. Seven of the eight towns in the district, which are located at the southern base of the Connecticut River, approved these environmental standards years ago, but Essex has been holding out adopting them.

The new rules at issue would do the following: (1) the present 50 foot limit on building next to the shoreline would be extended to 100 feet, (2) new restrictions on “clear cutting” trees along the river’s shoreline would be adopted by creating a “no cut” riparian buffer, (3) an additional  procedural step, by requiring a Special Permit, would be required before new structures of 4,000 square feet or more can be build, and (4) measuring the height of a new structure from its “existing natural grade” rather than from a built-up platform would be put in place.

Among those attending the meeting were recently re-elected Republican Selectman Joel Marzi, as well as the defeated Republican candidate for First Selectman Bruce MacMillian. Democratic First Selectman Norman Needleman and Selectwoman Stacia Rice-Libby did not attend.

The vast majority of speakers at the meeting opposed the proposed Gateway rules for Essex. “We don’t need Gateway,” said one. Another questioned whether home owners, who lived right next to the river’s edge, could even cut the grass on their properties. “Essex as a town would not exist, if we had had these rules in effect,” said another critic.

A member of the town’s Wetlands Commission also spoke in opposition to applying the Gateway rules to Essex, saying that all the perceived problems addressed by the proposed Gateway District rules for Essex could be addressed by the town’s Wetland Commission.

A few speakers at the meeting supported Essex’s adoption of the proposed Gateway rules, but they were decidedly in the minority. One said, “It is an embarrassment for Essex,” not to adopt the Gateway rules, like the other seven Gateway towns have done.

The Gateway Conservation district consists of eight towns. They are: Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, Lyme, Old Lyme, Essex and Old Saybrook. As noted, Essex is the only town in the district that has not approved the Gateway rules.

 

 

 

“She’s an entrepreneur,” says one of her friends about Selene Sweck, who has just opened Selene’s Sweet Shoppe in downtown Essex. Not only has Sweck launched a bright new Sweet Shoppe on Main Street, she also has a number other businesses.

For one, Sweck owns Porky Pete’s BBQ out on Westbrook Road. (“Pete” is the name of Sweck’s husband.) This extremely successful business has its tenth anniversary coming up soon.

Sweck also owns an extensive catering business, which she used to run out of Porky Pete’s. However, she felt that wedding planning was a bit incongruous in the middle of a barbeque operation, so she moved her catering consultations to the room right next to the Sweet Shoppe.

This new room is tastefully decorated, and just perfect for wedding planning and other special events. As for planning a wedding, Sweck says that her Event Planner, Lori Blair, “can handle the whole thing.”

In addition to organizing weddings and special events, Sweck’s catering operation provides corporate lunches on weekdays for four cafeterias of a major local cooperation.

Completing the reach of Sweck’s businesses is the outdoor food station that she and her husband run at the Clinton Crossing Shopping Mall. Open from Spring until November, the menu is hot dogs and grilled meats, which they sell to hungry shoppers.

A sweet spot for the Sweet Shoppe

Still, among all her ventures, Sweck clearly takes great pride in her new Sweet Shoppe. The staff members at the shop are all personal friends, and sometimes there appears to be more chattering going on among sales people and customers, than there is about selling the sweet stuff.

People who are shopping at the new Sweet Shoppe give it rave reviews. “It’s wonderful,” said Judy Heiser of Essex the other day; “It bubbles. It’s gorgeous, and it’s just what you need for Christmas.”

The Sweet Shoppe also is the kind of place where it is perfectly appropriate to buy just one piece of candy. However, be warned that some of the candies can be so intensely sweet that they should be eaten only in small bites. Otherwise the taster may end up with “sugar shock,” at least for awhile.

Another tantalizing specialty at the Sweet Shoppe is a collection of chocolate turtles of varying sizes. The turtles have a pecan base, a caramel inside, with the whole encased in chocolate. If you want to buy a little turtle, they are a reasonable ninety cents, with a larger turtle costing $3.95, and they can be addictive.

The Sweet Shoppe sells four kinds of special breads. They are: (1) a French baguette, (2) an Asiago cheese bread, (3) a multi-grain baguette and (4) a black cranberry and walnut bread. In addition, of course, the Sweet Shoppe sells a wide variety of cakes with thick, thick frosting.

Children on the honor system

Another highlight of the Sweet Shoppe is that one whole side of the shop is now dedicated to offering tempting delicacies for children. The children can select whatever candies they wish, and they pay for them strictly under the honor system. Small piggy banks are among the candies, so that the children can insert the proper number of coins for their purchases.

The new sweet shop appears to be on its way to becoming a great success, if the number of people visiting it the other day is any indication.  Also, very importantly, the existence of this evidently successful new business on Essex’s Main Street is a healthy sign of a better local economy.

Right next door to the Sweet Shoppe is another new business that has just opened its doors on Main Street. It is a new interior and decorating business, which offers professional decorating consultations by its co-owners, Jessica Whelen and Dennis Pough. Also on the premises is an extensive line of home accessories including, pillows, candles, faux floral arrangements and hand blown glass creations.

Giving even further evidence that new, good things are happening on Main Street, is the new ownership of the “Silkworm of Essex Village” just down the way. The new Proprietor, Raeann Groves, notes that the new Silkworm offers a variety of high end women’s clothing that cannot be found in ordinary department stores. She mentions, specifically, the Gerard Darel and the Sitamurt clothing brands that the store carries.

Also, there is presently a 20% off sale on select items at the Silkworm.

However, downtown Essex still has perhaps an overabundance of real estate sales offices on Main Street. There were no less than six of them by last count. However, one cannot gainsay that when tourists come to Essex, looking at the realtors’ photographs of houses for sale, is a favorite pastime.

Finally, on the down side of Essex having a truly vibrant Main Street is the still empty, former Left Bank Gallery space. This property is owned by the Paul family, who also own what is truly an Essex landmark, the Griswold Inn.

Reportedly, Essex First Selectman Norman Needleman will be discussing with the owners of the old gallery property new strategies on how to get this most attractive downtown property bustling again.

One possibility that ever the entrepreneurial Sweck tossed out in a recent conversation, is that the old gallery space might be converted into an entertainment venue for wedding receptions, anniversary celebrations and the like. If this were to happen, you can be assured that Sweck would be delighted to do the catering.

Coldwell Banker real estate agent Laurel Peters has personally apologized to Essex Zoning Enforcement officer Joseph Budrow for placing an “Open House” real estate sign in the middle of the Essex roundabout at the top of Main Street. Budrow said that Peters came up to his Town Hall office a short while ago just to deliver her apology.

Budrow had send Coldwell Banker a Notice of Violation for Peters’ earlier signage posting stating, “The location of the signage in the middle of the roundabout in Essex square must cease.” He also said that Peters’ posting of Coldwell Banker signage had been “placed in a public right-of-way from time to time to promote Open Houses.”

As authority for his Notice of Violation, Budrow cited Town of Essex Zoning regulation, paragraph 111A.6, which provides that no sign may be designed in a way, “which may be confused with a traffic control sign or signal.” He cited two other paragraphs in the zoning regulations which might apply as well.

In a separate interview Budrow also said that by March of next year the Essex Zoning Enforcement office was going to promulgate new zoning regulations that were going to apply specifically to real estate signage.

Presently, there is no reference to real estate signage in Essex’s Town zoning regulations, nor are real estate signs referred as an exception to the blanket prohibition of all signs found under Essex Town regulation, 111C. “Political signs,” on the other hand have a specific exception from this regulatory prohibition.

For her part Coldwell Banker real estate agent Laurel Peters confirmed that she had met with Zoning Enforcement Officer Budrow, and that she herself had initiated the meeting with him.

According to her, she told Budrow that the practice of posting real estate signs in the middle of the Essex roundabout was a common practice, and that she had no idea that it violated Essex Zoning regulations. She also assured Budrow that in the future she would refrain from putting up signs next to the “silent policeman” in the center of the roundabout.

It is all quiet now. The Pettipaug Yacht Club, located on 12 acres of land on the Connecticut River, has been put to bed for the winter. The heavy docks are stacked. The anchors and their chains for the sailboats are out of the water, their mooring balls resting beside them.

Also, the club’s office in the clubhouse is locked up tight, and the clubhouse deck is now a jumble of stored picnic tables. On the club’s grounds, there are still many boats scattered about. Although the club-owned powerboats are fully accounted for, according to the club’s ever present Paul Risseeuw, “We just don’t know who many of the other boats belong to.”

The cold stillness at the club is starkly different from the way it was last summer. Then in the bright, hot days of July and August, over 150 young people were actively participating in the sailing courses of Pettipaug Sailing Academy. Under the watchful eye and careful supervision of the Academy’s instructors, the club’s grounds were literally teeming with activity. Boats were being launched, sails hoisted, and races getting underway, amidst the happy voices of the young participants.

 Sailing Academy Director Paul Risseeuw

Paul Risseeuw, who is the Director of the Pettipaug Sailing Academy, is a retired naval architect and engineer, who spent his career at Electric Boat, designing and constructing atomic submarines for the U.S. Navy. Now during the summer he spends literally seven days a week, every week, working at the club’s Sailing Academy, among other activities.

The Sailing Academy’s program is divided into two sessions, and both sessions run for three and a half weeks. The first session takes place in July, and the second session runs from the latter part of July into the month of August.

Each of the two sessions is in turn divided into a morning program and an afternoon program. The morning programs offer sailing lessons to children, ages 8 to 11 years old; and the afternoon programs are designed for more advanced, young sailors, ages 12 to 16.

There are 41 students in each of the morning programs and 55 students in each of the afternoon programs.  Tuition to attend the Sailing Academy costs $375 to attend a single program, and $600 for a student who takes both of the morning programs, or both of the afternoon programs.

It is never permissible, under Academy’s rules, for a student to mix morning and afternoon programs. If they are morning program sailors, they stay in that category. If they are afternoon program sailors, they stay in their category as well.

In directing the Sailing Academy Risseeuw supervises a faculty of seven sailing instructors. Each of the instructors is out on the water in his or her own powerboat, while the students are sailing in the waters off the club. Also, it is a strict rule at the Academy that all students wear lifejackets, while they are on the dock or sailing.

One factor in learning to sail is that it is a fairly common occurrence for young novice sailors to be hit by a sailboat’s boom. The boom is not particularly heavy on a 7’ 6” Opti sailboat, which is used in the morning programs, but it can still hurt. All of the sailing instructors are First Aid and CPR trained, and know how to handle these and other mishaps.

Boys and girl sailors, there’s a difference

After directing the Sailing Academy for many years, Risseeuw has made a number of observations about the different ways boys and girls approach learning to sail. For one, whereas the number of boys and girls taking sailing lessons is about fifty-fifty in the morning programs; in the afternoon programs the ratio is about seventy percent boys and thirty percent girls.

“The older they get, the fewer the number of girls there are in classes,” Risseeuw says. Also, he observes, “Boys like the racing; they like the competition.” As for the girls, “Girls generally are less competitive sailors. Girls like to be together. They prefer socializing.” Also, he says that sometimes in the afternoon programs, “Some of the girls show up in bikinis, at an age when boys don’t know where they are.”

Also, Risseeuw observes that as a general rule the younger sailors in the morning programs are easier to manage than the teenagers in the afternoon.

A singular treat for teenage sailors in the afternoon programs is that every Monday they hold races with the junior sailors of other yacht clubs. Sometimes these races are held at Pettipaug, and other times at other clubs. When they travel, Pettipaug sailors and their boats are transported with the help of parents.

Generally, when Pettipaug sailors race other clubs they engage in what is called “team racing,” which is a very popular and competitive type of racing. The goal in team racing is to have the team win the race, and not a single individual sailor, as is the case with traditional “regatta” racing.

Boats engaged in team races make extensive use of the priority of the starboard tack while sailing, and other right of way rules, so as to clear the way for the members of their team to advance.

Clubs which compete with Pettipaug’s sailing teams are all members of the Eastern Connecticut Sailing Association, who’s Commodore just happens to be Pettipaug’s Paul Risseeuw.

Something for adults as well at Pettipaug

In addition to running the Sailing Academy, Risseeuw oversaw the running of twelve U.S. Powerboat courses last summer. The courses consist of one full day of training, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with a guaranteed six hours on the water.

The tuition for taking the course was $170, and the U.S. Sailing Association contributed $10,600 to support the program.

There are also many traditional yacht club programs at the Pettipaug Yacht Club run by other club members. Specifically, there were ten sailing races and regattas for members of the club throughout the summer sailing season. They include the traditional Charles Birch Memorial Race, won this year by veteran sailors, Ed Birch and Jeff Going. Charles Birch was the father of Ed Birch.

Also, last summer the club conducted a two-evening windsurfing course for adults.

Organizationally, there are three commodores at the club, which presently include Commodore Cameron Taylor, Vice Commodore Chris Manero and Rear Commodore Vic Hoehnebart, as well as a Board of Governors.

If they ever need help in running the club, they can always call on club member “extraordinaire,” Paul Risseeuw.

Essex’s Zoning Enforcement Agent Joseph Budrow has sent a “Notice of Violation” to the Essex office of the real estate firm of Coldwell Banker after a finding “that [Coldwell Banker] signage is being placed in a public right-of-way from time to time to promote Open Houses.” “The location of the signage in the in the middle of the roundabout in Essex Square must cease,” the Enforcement Officer wrote in the Notice of Violation, dated December 1.

The Notice was sent to Coldwell Banker’s Essex office on Main Street, c/o Laurel Peters.

The Coldwell Banker signage that triggered the Notice of Violation took place on Sunday, November 13, when one of its brokerage signs was placed next to Essex’s “silent policeman” in the middle of the roundabout at the top of Essex’s Main Street. The sign advertised an Open House by Coldwell Banker real estate agent Laurel Peters, and gave a contact telephone number.

In an interview on November 13, when the sign was in place, a Coldwell Banker real estate agent at the firm’s Essex office, who declined to give her name, said that the posting of real estate signs in the Essex roundabout was a common practice. “Everybody does it,” she said, “particularly on Sundays, when real estate brokers hold open houses at the properties that they are selling.”

Sign on roundabout said to violate Zoning regulations

 Zoning Agent Budrow’s letter to Coldwell Banker said, “The signage appears to violate the Town of Essex’s zoning regulations,” and he cited three regulations.

1) 111A.6, which provides that no sign may be designed in a way “which may be confused with a traffic control sign or signal.”  Budrow said in an interview that this regulation was particularly relevant to the Coldwell Banker sign placed in the roundabout.

2) 111A.9, which provides that a posted sign must be necessary to the same use as the premises on which it is located. (This could mean, for example, that Coldwell Banker can clearly place signs at its office on Main Street, as they are necessary to the business on the premises.)

3) 111C, which lists exceptions to the requirement that signs must be necessary to the use of the premises. The listed exceptions include off premises signs for church and charity events, political signs, signs of civic and fraternal organizations, and museums signs, among others. Real estate signs are not mentioned in any of the exceptions found in regulation 111C.

In his Notice of Violation Zoning Enforcement Agent Budrow also wrote, “The Zoning Commission will soon undergo a revision of our current signage regulations, and real estate signs will be addressed as they are currently not listed as allowed at all.”

This appears to mean that off premises real estate advertising signs, unless they are related to the necessary use of the premises under regulation 111A.9, such as a broker’s “for sale” sign on the premises, are currently not permitted in the town of Essex.

Attempts to reach real estate agent Laurel Peters, whose name appeared on the Caldwell Banker sign at the Essex roundabout, were unsuccessful.

They came, and came, and came, a happy, celebratory crowd, many with excited children in tow. They came to eat, to look at the fire engines and to enjoy the latest of Essex’s firehouse breakfasts last Sunday (Nov. 20). Pancakes with strips of bacon were among the items on the menu.

But for the young, who wants to eat, when you can climb all over a fire truck? And even pretend you are driving one? And talk with real firefighters?

“Pancakes and fire trucks, it’s a perfect combination,” said Mike Delouchry of Ivoryton, who with his wife, Heather, and their two children, Drew and Sara, were out among the fire trucks. “They love it,” their father said.

The official host of the bi-annual pancake breakfasts is Essex Fire Engine Company No. 1. The breakfasts, at $5.00 a piece, take in between $1,500 to $2,000 a year, according to Fire Chief Steven Olson. The money raised is used for official fire station purposes. “Its money which would otherwise have to come out of the town budget and from  people’s taxes,” the Chief pointed out.

In addition to raising funds, the breakfasts are designed “to show the community what we are doing,” Chief Olson said. As for training to be a firefighter, he said that each firefighter has to have over 100 hours of training, and that training for a firefighter was on going.

According to the Chief, the Essex Fire Station gets between 800 and 900 calls a year. The calls relate not only to fires, but to accidents, medical emergencies and transporting hazardous materials. “We are the first responders in Essex,” he said.

All told, there are 60 firefighters in the Engine Company, and all of them are volunteers. “They range in age from 15 years to 80 in age,” the Chief said.

Meanwhile, the Sunday pancake breakfast was attracting larger and larger numbers number of people, and the floor of the firehouse was getting more and more crowded. Whereas at 8:30 a.m. there had been 147 people who showed up, twenty minutes later there were 230.  Then, by 9:10 a.m. there were 300 pancake eaters on hand. The target goal of 500 in attendance was clearly going to be reached.

Tom and Maria Coffrey of Deep River were out among the fire trucks with their sons, Ryan and Dillon. “We come every year. Our two boys love it,” their mother said.

Also, circulating both out among the fire trucks, and inside among the pancake eaters, was “Sparky.” He was a human firefighter dressed up as a big fire dog for the occasion.

The Coldwell Banker real estate firm, which has had a residential sales office in Essex for many years, recently enlisted the town’s “silent policeman” to help sell houses. The “silent policeman” is the name given by local residents for the lantern-like structure in the middle of the roundabout at the top of Main Street in Essex.

Frequently, the structure is adorned for town celebrations such as Ground Hog Day; and a holiday decoration is now being put in place.  However, Coldwell Banker appeared to be breaking new ground with its use of the “silent policeman” to post a real estate advertising sign last Sunday, Nov. 13. The sign was removed in the afternoon.

However, a broker at Coldwell Banker at the Main Street office, who asked that her name not be used, refuted that only Coldwell Banker’s real estate agents use the “silent policeman’” for advertisement purposes. “Everybody does it,” she said, “particularly on Sundays, when brokers have ‘open houses’ at the properties that they are selling.”

As to whether the posting of advertising signs on Essex town property is permissible under present town regulations, Joseph Budrow, the town’s Zoning Wetlands and Enforcement said, “as of now the signage regs will be updated in early 2012.   So right now there isn’t a clear plan on what the Zoning Commission wants.”

However, Budrow said that he would have an update on the issue in mid-December.

A wonderful dream is on its way to becoming a reality. After over three years of intense effort, by as early as next spring the Town of Essex is going to have its very own basketball center. Situated on a now underused  area next to the imposing Connecticut Light and Power transformer substation, and neighboring the Essex Fire Engine Company’s Fire House, there will soon be a beautifully laid out basketball center.

The center will be situated at the southeast quadrant of West Avenue and Route 154, just as you enter the Town of Essex.

Officially called the “Essex Basketball Center & Gateway Project,” the new facility will include a full sized basketball court with two backboards, as well as two practice backboards, for a total of 7,140 square feet of playing surface.  The surface of the new courts will have a new cover of treated asphalt; and there will be spectator bleachers, large enough to seat 70 people.

The basketball center will be lighted until 10:00 p.m. every evening, and will be monitored by security cameras for safety. In addition, the entire facility will be designated as a Safe Zone, meaning that  alcohol, drugs and tobacco products will be strictly prohibited.

The central purpose in building the basketball center is to create a facility for young people, “where they can safely hang out together and play basketball in a secure environment.” The center will be used for friendly pick-up games and informal play and practice, but it will not host league games of local school teams.

A prime mover of the entire effort to bring the Basketball Center to Essex is local resident James Rawn. Rawn serves as one of three Co-Chairs of the Essex Park and Recreation Subcommittee of the Park and Recreation Commission. Other Co-Chairs are Dennis Robida and Tony Mosa. The Essex Rotary Club is a co-sponsor of the project.

As for the costs involved in building the new basketball center, according to Rawn, the total cost, relying on firm quotations from reputable contractors, is $177,000. This number includes 15% for contingencies.

These monies will pay for a wealth of improvements, including the construction of the basketball courts and practice area with fencing; new bleachers, bike racks and picnic tables; and new lightings fixtures, which will match the style of the lighting fixtures of the neighboring Fire House.

Also, covered in the projected costs will be new asphalt for the adjacent parking lot, an extensive new grass sprinkler system and new landscaping for the lawn areas of the property. Also covered will be expenses for the construction of new sidewalks around the edges of the property, and new landscaping around the Connecticut Light and Power substation.

New crosswalks and crossing lights are being installed by the State Department of Transportation at no expense to the town.

It is the firm intent of the sponsors of the project to fund the entire construction of the basketball center with private monies, without the expenditure of a single dollar of Town of Essex funds. To date, according to project Co-Chair Rawn, there is already over $50,000 in cash and firm commitments.

Rawn says that he is confident that the rest of the money can be raised.  In fact, he believes, “The rest of the money will come in easily.”  He adds, “Money is coming in from contributors, when they understand that this is all about the kids.”

The roll out of the fundraising campaign began the weekend of November 12 and 13, with over 60 local families and Park and Recreation Commissioners going door to door calling on their neighbors and friends to support “this community project for the kids,” as Rawn describes it. Also, solicitation postcards were sent out to all Essex residents on November 9.

To obtain a donor package supporters of the project should go to: www.essexct.gov, next click on “Park and Recreation,” and then click on, “Essex Basketball Center.” The donor package will specify how contributions can be made directly on line.

Contributions can also be made to the new Essex Basketball Center by mail, by making out a check payable to: “Town of Essex, Basketball Center & Gateway Project,” and sending it to: Essex Park and Recreation Department, 29 West Avenue, Essex, CT 06426. All contributions are tax deductable.

Although not responsible for any initial construction costs, going forward the Town of Essex will incur upkeep expenses for the new facility, which will include lighting the parking area at night for “park & ride” users, and for the general public.

Actual work on the new basketball center is scheduled to begin this coming March, and the construction period is estimated between four and five weeks. This means that the facility will be available for play as early as next spring, then into next summer and fall, and even into next winter on good days, not to mention for years to come.

Not a bad thing, when you think about it … “for the kids.”

Cars… antique cars… beautiful antique cars… 40 beautiful antique cars showed up for the “Fall Foliage Antique Motor Tour and Car Show” held on the on the grounds of the Pratt House in Essex on Sunday, October 16.  Sponsored by the Essex Historical Society and the Belltown Antique Car Club of East Hampton, these glistening and shining automotive beauties of days gone by, were truly a sight to see.

Among the participants, behind the wheel of his 1912 Model T Ford “Speedster,” was Bruce MacMillian, who is a serious antique car buff, as well as a modern day politician. MacMillian is presently running for First Selectman of Essex on the Republican line.

However, MacMillian considers his 1912 Motel T as far too precious for campaigning. For that, he puts his 1925 Ford in service, which is getting quite a bit of mileage these days.

Also, attending the antique car show and tour was John Beveridge, who is the President of the show’s co-sponsor, the Belltown Antique Car Club. Beveridge, who lives in Essex and has three garages full of old cars, shared some interesting insights as to why some perfectly normal men, and sometimes women, go absolutely nuts about old cars.

One of the reasons is “nostalgia” for the old days, says Beveridge. Another attraction is the relatively simple mechanics of old cars.  “Mechanics are a big part of the attraction for us” he says.

This means that when you have to fix an old car, more likely than not you can fix it yourself. By contrast, “You can’t even open the hood of a modern car,” the antique car leader says.

“These old cars are fun to fix,” and when the job is done, the owner gets “instant gratification,” he reports. In addition, the aesthetic value of an antique vehicle is a big draw for an owner. Also, “There is a wonderful functionality of the vehicles and its parts,” croons Beveridge.

Not only old guys are interested in old cars, according to him, young people are into them as well. However, the younger crowd favors “muscle cars,” such as Chevy Cameros and Ford Mustanges. The old guys, if they have the money, favor Bentleys and Jaguars, he says.

As for the antique auto club, people join not only because of their common enjoyment of old cars, but also because of what the club President calls the “social aspect,” a fancy way of saying being among friends. The club even has a slightly cornball slogan, “Car guys are good guys.”

The antique auto club holds three events a year. The first is the “Spring Dust-Off Motor Tour; next is the Annual East Hampton Antique Car Show,” which is always held on the first Sunday in August, and, finally, there is the “Fall Foliage Antique Motorcar Tour and Car Show, held this year with the Essex Historical Society.

As for the price of these vehicles, a 1932 Packard “Pheton,” owned by Ralph Herman, who owns Antique Auto Service, goes for $180,000. Herman says that that his company takes care of at least 40 antique vehicles. Club President’s Beveridge’s 1936 Ford would go for $85,000, and he has no intention in selling it.

Whether a 1920’s vintage Essex school house should be reduced to rumble, and even turned into a parking lot, is solely in the hands of the property’s owner, the “Our Lady of Sorrows” Roman Catholic Church, located at 14 Prospect Street in Essex.

In the view of Essex Town Historian Christopher Pagliuco the old school house “is a symbol of the town’s commitment to education.” Furthermore, Pagliuco sees the old school as “a bridge to the town’s past,” when school houses were located in town and easily walked to by school children.

On August 16 a long time member of the Essex Historical Society, Eve Potts, filed a formal request to restrain the church from tearing down the old school building for a ninety day period, and her request for a stay was granted. However, the 90-day hold expires on November 13.

In the meantime Potts is sounding the alarm that the old school building should not be destroyed, “before a thorough survey has been made to determine if there are other uses for it.” “Demolition in itself is costly,” she says, “and the green thing to do is to save the building that is standing rather than to demolish it to fill in yet another landfill.”

The old school house abuts land owned by the Town of Essex, and in Potts’ view, “The future needs of the Town for additional space make it doubly important that we all take a good look at this building before it is turned to rubble.” She also points out, “Many similar school buildings throughout the state have been preserved and put to new uses.”

John Guszkowski, consulting Essex town planner, however, is not too sanguine about retrofitting the old school into a new use as condo apartments. He estimates that to adapt the 13,000 square foot, school building into condos could cost as much $2 million dollars.

“From a strictly market perspective the numbers do not make a lot of sense,” Guszkowski says, and in his view “unless some financing support falls out of the sky, this may not be a battle we can win.”

Although this conclusion casts considerable doubt on a sustainable commercial reuse of the property, another scenario that could be a non-commercial reuse of the old school house building.

There is a precedent. Right next to the old school house is a building, which presently houses the Essex Historical Society, which itself was once slated to be torn down and turned into parking.

“Only after a public outcry was the building saved,” says Potts. In addition to housing the Historical Society and its archives, this building, which once housed Hills Academy, serves as a public meeting and gallery space.

As for the “Our Lady of Sorrows” church’s position about preserving the old school house, it is keeping its own counsel. Essex Town Historian Pagliuco has written letters to both the Pastor of the church, the Reverend Paul Gaumond, and to Bishop Michael R. Cote of Norwich, in whose diocese the property is located, as to the church’s plans for the old school house. However, Pagliouco has not received an answer to either of his letters. Nor has the church answered press inquiries on the subject.

Meanwhile the clock is ticking …

 

See related articles:

Written objections delay Highland Hall Demolition in Essex

Highland Hall – A Part of the Town’s Cultural History

Historic and Architectural Resource Survey Should be Made of Highland Hall

Church Seeks Permit For Demolition of Highland Hall, Former Elementary School Turned Nursing Home