Fairfield Tavern Restored
For about $200,000 Fairfield DPW workers and an outside construction firm managed to assemble the political will and funds to restore a Revolutionary war era tavern. From the Connecticut Post:
The town is nearly finished restoring a historic structure where George Washington slept in October 1789 during his tour of colonies invaded and torched by the British.The original Sun Tavern on Town Green didn’t survive the British invasion of Fairfield in 1779, but Samuel Penfield, a prominent Revolutionary War-era resident, rebuilt the tavern in 1784.
Washington, inaugurated as the country’s first president in April 1789, stayed overnight in Sun Tavern from Oct. 16 to 17 of that year, according to the Fairfield Historical Society.
“There is pretty sound evidence to support George Washington having stayed here when he came to Fairfield,” said David Parker, a local architect who’s done a lot of research on Sun Tavern. “In that way, this building ties us to the history of the United States.”
Sun Tavern, one of six town-owned historic structures managed by the Fairfield Historical Society, needed a lot of work, Parker said.
Goals of the restoration were to make the tavern structurally sound and return it to the way it looked in the early 19th century, Parker said.
The restoration was done by town Department of Public Works employees and Domus Constructors of Norwalk and is expected to cost nearly $200,000 by the time it’s finished, according to Michael Jehle, executive director of the Fairfield Historical Society, and Chief Fiscal Officer Paul Hiller.
It’s always nice to see how other towns manage to get things done. The restored tavern is part of a six building complex that will also have a new building to house its museum and library.
source: Connecticut Post, Fairfield tavern returns to Washington era, ANDREW BROPHY abrophy@ctpost.com, August 5, 2007
