From the ringing of the bell to signify the declaration of independence to the exhibits of Norwalk history, July 4th photos:

Norwalk Historical Society Hosts Annual Independence Day Celebration

“Happenings Around the Historic Norwalk Green”

Sunday, July 4^th, 2010

The Norwalk Historical Society is again pleased to host its annual Fourth of July program.  This year’s “Happenings around the Historic Norwalk Green” will run from 12:00pm to 1:30pm and will again include activities held simultaneously at Mill Hill Historic Park, St. Paul’s on the Green Church and the First Congregational Church on the Green.

Visitors are invited to discover Mill Hill Historic Park, Two East Wall Street, home of the Norwalk Historical Society.  Guests will be welcomed to tour the Town House Museum (1835) by Norwalk Town Clerk Andy Garfunkel, portraying Revolutionary War Town Clerk Samuel Grumman.  All ages will delight in learning about early Norwalk education under the tutelage of “schoolmarm” Samantha Kulish in the Downtown District Schoolhouse (1826) and will enjoy touring the Gov. Thomas Fitch Law Office (c. 1740) with John Atkin portraying Norwalk’s lively colonial governor.   At 12:00pm, guests will also learn about some of the town’s Revolutionary War citizens during a Mill Hill Burying Ground tour led by local historian and NHS board member Madeleine Eckert.

St. Paul’s on the Green, 60 East Avenue, will present an open house of the church, the fourth structure built on that site since its beginnings in 1737.  St. Paul’s holds the distinction of being the oldest same site organization in Norwalk.

An open house at the First Congregational Church on the Green, Three Lewis Street, will feature an exhibit of historical artifacts from its early history.  This year the church will also feature a special Amistad display.  The Congregational Church is the oldest religious organization in Norwalk, having been founded in 1652.

At 1:30 pm, the Independence Day Celebration continues with the Let Freedom Ring!™ National Bell Ringing Ceremony on the Historic Norwalk Town Green, with the reading of the Declaration of Independence by a costumed Revolutionary War reenactor.  At exactly 2:00pm, the bells from both churches and the Town House will toll 13 times to commemorate the founding of the 13 original states.

This will be followed by a procession to the Mill Hill Town House, where guests will be entertained with musical numbers performed by Norwalk’s renowned Crystal Theatre under the direction of NHS board Advisor Cheryl Kemeny.  There will be guest speakers and the latest edition of the popular presentation, “Did You Know? Little Known Facts About Norwalk During the American Revolution.” This year’s edition of “Did You Know?” includes newly discovered evidence that further proves the Eckerts’ theory concerning the Battle of Norwalk.  As always, refreshments such as Muster Day Gingerbread and Aaron Burr cookies, made from authentic Revolutionary War-era recipes, will be served.

The Norwalk Historical Society was incorporated in 1899 with the purpose of promoting and encouraging historical research in Norwalk. That vision is kept alive today with the re-establishment of the NHS in 1949 and the continued focus on “the research, preservation, and promotion of interest in the history of Norwalk.”

For more information, please call the Norwalk Historical Society at (203) 846-0525, email info@norwalkhistoricalsociety.org, or visit the NHS website atwww.norwalkhistoricalsociety.org.

All donations received will be used to fund the programs of the Norwalk Historical Society.

from a press release:

Subject: Volunteering at the Museum

The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum is currently looking for volunteers. Museum Tour Guides and Gift Shop attendants are needed. Please call Joy Romeo at 203/838-9799 for more information.

Norwalk has had some interesting historical relationships with it’s historical assets. I think pretty much everyone knows that at one point the City political flunkies circa 1960 had plans to raze the Lockwood Mathews Mansion after using ti to store voting machines and yard machinery. They built a police station in Mathews Park, I guess because they had fears about zombies or something. They didn’t object with the state DOT decided to build I-95 through the historic center of Norwalk — exit 16 being the site of the former Governor Fitch house amongst others. I could go on, but I think you get the point.

So the mansion was spared, thanks to a private not for profit group Lockwood Mathews Mansion Museum, that has managed the property on behalf of the City. But the City, through its Historical Commission, retains oversight on just what building restorations and modifications are allowed. Which brings us to the current spat between the Lockwood Mathews Mansion Museum and the Historical Commission.

Each month over the past year or so, on the Historical Commission agenda is the report from the Lockwood Mathews Mansion Museum (LMMM). And each month neither a representative, nor a report is submitted. When it came time to move forward with some restoration work, suddenly representatives appeared form the May 26th Historical Commission meeting. On that meeting’s agenda was the Historical Commission’s review of a $299,875 award for engineering services and infrastructure improvements. The item was on the agenda for a recommendation following the April executive session meeting. Action on the project had been tabled because there was concern that somewhere along the way, the steps and procedures of the bidding process allegedly did not get followed to the satisfaction of Historical Commission members.

Typically in a bidding process, a selection committee sets criteria upon which the bids are to be evaluated. A review of those items is then rated on a point system 0-5, on the completeness of the bid. A review of the bid evaluations revealed a troubling anomaly. Under the heading Schedule: Preliminary schedule of time needed to initiate and complete the project and identifying key phases of design, one of the bidders was awarded the top score, 5 by several selection members, when the bid in fact did not have a timeline included.

As it turns out, the bidder who skipped this criteria also scored the highest ranking, yet was not the lowest bid.

1. Silver/Petrucelli & Associates at $152,700
2. Bianco Giolitto Weston Architects at $266,000
3. Fuller D’Angelo, PC Architects & Planners at $297,500
4. David Scott Parker Architects at $299,875

Just who was evaluating the bids?

• Shelly Gerarden, executive director of the LMMM
• Chris Cooke, chairman of the LMMM board of trustees
• Patsie Brescia, treasurer of the LMMM board of trustees
• Joe Passero, LMMM board of trustees
• Mimi Findlay, LMMM board of trustees
• Port Draper, LMMM board of trustees
• Susan Sweitzer, Norwalk Redevelopment Agency
• Alan Lo, Land Use & Building Management, Public Works
• Dori Wilson, Dept of Planning and Zoning
• Gerald Foley, Norwalk Purchasing Agent
• David Park, chairman of the Norwalk Historical Commission

I’m sort of curious why there’s no trained architect on the selection committee, but I digress. There were other issues concerning the grading of the bids that raised concerns all coming to a boil on the May 26th Historical Commission meeting.

The infrastructure services specifically relate to the mechanical systems, which include an elevator and sprinkler system. In a building that innovated air conditioning in the late 1800s, how that mechanical infrastructure was implemented was going to be tricky. Maybe this should have been something delved into as part of the interview process and reference check, but it those items were not checked on the winning bidder’s submission.

The Historical Commission asked the LMMM to at least interview the 3 lowest bidders as a result of the May meeting, yet LMMM has not done so.

Your Green Old House

Workshop Series

“Old is the New Green”

Presented by the Norwalk Preservation Trust

Panel discussion with participants from Norwalk Preservation Trust, Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, and National Trust for Historic Preservation

Saturday, June 5
10:00 am – 12:30 pm

Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum
295 West Avenue
Norwalk, CT 06850

$5 for NPT members, $10 for non-members

Join and/or register online at www.norwalkpreservation.org

The phrase “historic preservation” probably does not immediately bring to mind visions of energy efficiency, sustainability, or conservation – but it should. Our existing buildings are one of our greatest renewable resources. Americans already embrace as common sense the need to recycle aluminum cans, glass, and newspapers. Why not apply that same common sense approach to our historic homes? Many historic and older buildings are remarkably energy efficient because of their site sensitivity, quality of construction, and use of passive heating and cooling. Historic buildings can go green without compromising historic character.

The first of three workshops this Summer, the “Old is the New Green” event features four experts: historical architect Lee Levey, preservation contractor Jeffrey Meier, historic home sustainability expert Rebecca Williams from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and architectural historian Chris Wigren from the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation. Each speaker will address aspects of upgrading and greening a historic home from their professional points of view, followed by a question-and-answer period.

Sponsored by:

Tulip Tree Site Design

Fat Cat Pie Co.
Fountainhead Wines & Distillations

Norwalk Arts Commission
Norwalk Redevelopment Agency

Burning of Norwalk
Saturday, May 29 @ 7:30 & Sunday, May 30 @ 7:30
Ben Franklin Theatre

British General Tryon is campaigning to incinerate Connecticut’s towns, including Norwalk! Virginian Lieutenant Thomas French comes to Norwalk with dispatches from General Washington, falls for the local innkeeper, patriot Abigail Arnold, and then gets arrested as a spy when Abby’s jealous Tory boyfriend, Lucas Bouton, sets him up. Join us for this revolutionary-era musical performed by our high school group.

More info: www.crystaltheatre.org

from a press release:

The Norwalk Historical Commission Invites you to attend the Preservation Plan Public Hearing

On Thursday May 27^th at 4 p.m.

In the Community Room at City Hall

Mr. Terry Necciai, AIA, from John Milner Associates will be presenting the results of the study their firm did on the nine historic buildings owned by the City and under the care of the Historical Commission.  He will be explaining what was found, what recommendations they have made to the care and maintenance of the buildings and the priorities they have determined as to the care and restoration work that needs to be done to restore and maintain the buildings.  Recommendations for each building break restoration and care projects down into a proposed time schedule, thus this report will assist the Commission, Planning and Zoning, Finance and the Common Council in determining funding for the nine historic buildings in the future and can help place the City in a better position to  receive restoration grants.  The recommendations confirm the need for continued maintenance and the importance of keeping up with the maintenance to avoid expensive restoration projects later.

Questions are encouraged.

*  This project was jointly funded by the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, with a Historic Preservation Technical Assistance Grant (HPTAG) and the City of Norwalk.

For further information, please contact:  Susan Gunn Bromley, Curator at sgunnbromley@norwalkct.org or 203 866-0202.

The community was frothing over “out of control crime” and there were calls for the Police Chief to be fired. Sounds like now doesn’t it? But it wasn’t, it was 1987, and the crime areas of Norwalk were well known, so much so that the United Hispanic Action of Norwalk (UHAN) boasted about a 200 person membership and staged a parade against drugs. Here’s the original map, posted in The Hour, on Friday September 4, 1987.

The issue then, as now, was drug dealing. But let’s take the long view here. Whatever policy has been introduced and implemented in the area, it seems that nothing has changed. The same people, keep speaking, and speaking about the issue. But nothing gets resolved.

Here’s some throwback names for ya:

Doug Hempstead

Bobby Burgess

Rick McQuaid

John Tobin

Curtis Law

And the issues? Same ones. Has anyone totaled up how much money we give to anti-poverty, anti-drug, low income housing and all the social issues that seemingly are in crisis year after year? Isn’t time to admit that what we’ve been doing has failed? Isn’t it time to try something new?

Bridgeport managed to make a decision in the 80s and 1990s about crime and housing, they razed a public housing complex called Father Panik Village. The New York Times article explains why:

But by the early 1980′s the once proud village had evolved into a notorious crime-ridden slum and a symbol of failure for the city. One of the focal points for the city’s crack cocaine trade during the last decade, the area became the scene of dozens of homicides and other violent crimes.

Those who lived there routinely barricaded themselves in their apartments for fear of being hit by stray gunfire and some even resorted to wearing bullet-proof vests.

In 1986 the city began leveling the project, leaving 15 of the buildings standing. But last month city officials decided to raze the rest of Father Panik Village, saying the intensity of the crime and deterioration of the buildings made it uninhabitable for the 300 families that remained. The Federal Government has approved a plan to provide rental subsidies for the families, who will be moved to new housing units in other parts of the city within the next four to six months. Chiseling Away an Image

The officials called the decision to demolish Father Panik Village a relief and a major step forward in an attempt to chisel away the image of Bridgeport as a dying urban area. As one of the dinosaurs of public housing, they said, Father Panik Village stood as a vestige of an era of crisis that the city was attempting to move beyond.

“Bridgeport’s past plight has been linked to a big extent to the deterioration of public housing and Father Panik Village was by far the most notable example,” said Joseph P. Ganim, the Mayor of Bridgeport. “Its destruction is a very symbolic move.”

Bridgeport Police Chief Thomas Sweeney said the project averaged four to five homicides a year out of a statewide total of about 150. In the past year, he said, drug dealers have shot at three police officers assigned to the area, and, in a separate incident, dealers fired 76 rounds from a semiautomatic weapon, killing one young woman during a drug deal that had gone sour. He added that Father Panik Village’s proximity to Interstate 95 made it an easy drive for suburban drug users, who are involved in about 70 percent of the city’s drug sales. Scattered Housing and Complexes

“We are delighted to see it go,” Mr. Sweeney said. The Bridgeport Housing Authority is replacing the 1,063 units lost from the demolition of Father Panik with a combination of scattered-housing sites and mixed-income developments, which will include both rental and privately owned properties, said the authority’s executive director, Clarence H. Craig.

Unfortunately for Norwalk, a read through The Hour reveals that the very people who could have made that decision, raze the crime ridden housing and build or subsidize housing in other parts of Norwalk, were against doing either. And so, years later, Norwalk confronts the same issues, with the same cast of characters and nothing gets solved.

A deal is in the works, according to the Hour, that will resolve the litigation between the state and the Norwalk Inn over the destruction of 93 East Ave. The Inn’s new expansion plan is to add a third floor to the back of the building, which sits in a residential zone instead of the front of the building which sits in a commercial zone. Which means, that this might be headed to zoning. Zoning?!