What
Is Happening With The Old Town Hall?:
Police And Theatre Group Both Hope To Move In |
The
Montville Times - 12/2/05
By
Julie Wernau |
| |
| Montville - Two groups are looking to move in to the old
Montville Town Hall, which the town hopes to convert for
community use at little to no cost. In the coming months, the
town will decide whether to move the police into the building
or accept a proposal to convert the building into a regional
children's theater. |
| Mayor
Joseph Jaskiewicz has applied to the state for an urban grant,
which would help the town pay for the approximately $1 million
needed to outfit the Route 32 building for police and
dispatch. In the meantime, police and dispatchers are making
due in their usual quarters on Route 2A, but police say it is
only a matter of time before the leaky roof collapses or the
road is widened to make way for a new development at the
Norwich State Hospital site in Preston. |
| According
to Lt. Leonard Bunnell, the police station would most likely
be taken for right-of-way as it is so close to the road that
snowplows can't help but chuck ice and snow against the
windows. In addition, a leaky roof, barely functional boiler
and explosion-prone sewer system plague the state-owned
building, he said, and the town recently spent $2,000 to
remediate high radon levels. |
| “What
happens if the sewer explodes again?” Bunnell said. “What
happens if the roof caves in? The state's not going to do it.
... If something happens to this building, where are they
going to dispatch from?” |
| Meanwhile,
Leland and Liz Rummel, owners of Brenda Kerr Theater, have
been courting the town since late 2003 in hopes that the old
Town Hall, once a theater, can be converted back to its old
use. The Rummels pitched their proposal for a non-profit
regional children's theater to the Town Council before
elections and say they plan to pitch it to the new council in
the next couple of months. |
| “We
support the police department 100 percent,” Liz Rummel said,
emphasizing that they don't wish to be viewed as in
competition with the police. |
| The
Rummels propose to rent the building from Montville for a
negligible sum, and have promised to upgrade and restore the
building using their own funds, which they expect to obtain
from grants and donations after they finalize their non-profit
(501 (C) 3) status. |
| Brenda
Kerr Theater, named for Leland Rummel's mother, who died of
breast cancer in 1973, has operated out of various local
venues since 2002, and has a mission to provide children and
young adults in eastern Connecticut and Rhode Island with an
educational and affirming live theater experience. |
| “We
don't call it an audition; we call it a placement,” Liz
Rummel said. |
| The
Rummels said they are ready to make a home for the theater in
Montville, where they live, and think their mission will mesh
with Utopia's if it is built in Preston. |
| “We
prepare kids to go to a place of higher learning, which is
Utopia,” Leland Rummel said, “or the studios coming to
North Stonington.” |
| The
Rummels both carry extensive theatrical resumes and have
worked in educational theater programs across the region. They
said they expect to hold about four full-stage productions per
year if they move to Montville and believe a regional theater
would be beneficial to businesses on Route 32. |
| When
the old Town Hall moved in to the building, the one-time
balcony was partitioned off to accommodate offices, Leland
Rummel said. In order to get the building operating as a
theater, the couple said they will have to upgrade the
electrical system, possibly remove asbestos, install a
sprinkler system and make the building handicapped compliant. |
| The
Rummels said they will wait for a decision from Montville over
the next six to 12 months before seeking other venues. |
Meanwhile,
Lt. Bunnell said, there are other possibilities available to
the police department, including the empty Juvenile Court, on
Route 32 in Uncasville, which would be large enough to share
with the animal control officer, judge of probate and Uncas
Health, who are also looking for new quarters.
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