1913 Reflects New Canaan's "Living History"

To the editor:

Can’t decide if this letter is an elegy or a eulogy for the 1913 Library .... I am not sure. Maybe more of a philosophical tombstone for the town of New Canaan.

The sad part of this is I do not know who to sent this letter to….the expectation is that the Library will be demolished due to a lack of imagination and generosity of spirit.

The 1913 Library is an expression of New Canaan, a child of New Canaan much like when parents mark the height of their children on the door frame as they grow up. The Library is a reflection
of New Canaan’s growth, each addition marking town’s progress and growth.

The 1913 Library is living history, a visible logo, a New Canaan brand. Its crime is being old and an impediment to progress, a building in New Canaan that the new New Canaan no longer values, to be forgotten as the character and soul of a town is chipped away.

What town is New Canaan now? What kept generations in New Canaan? What was the attraction for newcomers? What are we losing in the frantic search to increase the real estate base? Has New Canaan turned a corner and no longer cares about pride in its progress by preserving its landmarks?

New Canaan will send up a flag to developers that it is open season; New Canaan will gradually forfeit any controls or claims for preservation or long range town planning as the developers
will read this as a precedent to ask for every modification, extension,exemption and P&Z regulations be damned in the name of progress.

It is a sad offer by the library to have a memorial portico at the end of the property bordering the gas station - a disingenuous display, a gateway to a gas station … likely to be demolished when sometime in the future the library in spite of the town’s generous contributions and parking spaces, will have wisely hedged their bets and sell the privately owned "town green” to the
entity that paid handsomely for the gas station on the corner. The next gas station to heaven will be developed into something, as progress squeezes the disappearing New England village ever smaller and distant.

New Canaan Library and maybe even the town of New Canaan wants to be known for its architectural history yet ignores the irony of promoting such a “legacy” in tearing down the 1913 Library and promoting the number of mid-century modern homes that have also met the wrecking ball of progress, allowed by a town with no formal preservation policy for the very thing it wants to promote. Promoting preservation but demolishing its history is …… depressing.

As I said in my previous letter letter to the P&Z, preservation is the backbone of progress and it is about the character and soul of New Canaan. Progress is a reflection of a town’s growth and civic pride and preservation is a reflection of the town’s history and community. Progress and preservation should and can coexist, inform and inspire a community.

Hayden Spring

24 Gerrish Lane, New Canaan