KENT, Conn.—The town has failed to secure a $1 million STEAP grant it sought to make the ground floor of Swift House ADA code compliant so it could be opened to the public.
“We’ll probably address the issue in July,” First Selectman Marty Lindenmayer said the week of Memorial Day, adding that the future of the building, considered to be the oldest in the village, should be in the hands of voters.
Lindenmayer, who has always questioned whether town ownership of the ancient building is in the community’s best interest, had suggested that the downstairs of the building be dedicated to offices for the Social Services Department and for the Food Bank. “My own belief is that the town should own only buildings with a purpose for the town,” he said.
In looking for a solution that would create daily activity there, he suggested that moving Social Services and the Food Bank to the site, adjacent to the housing for the elderly complex, would make sense. But, when asked if he would again seek a STEAP grant next year, he asked, “Why?”
He said putting funding into rehabilitation of the Community House would better serve the town’s needs.
The Swift House has been shuttered since 2019 and, according to the fire marshal, cannot be opened to the public until it is ADA compliant. A 2024 study of the structure by the architectural firm Silver Petrucelli determined it would cost more than $2 million to fully rehabilitate the building.
A review of the building by the State Historic Preservation Office determined that it probably is composed of three early structures that had been joined together, and represented different periods of Federalist period construction.
A task force worked for months to determine how many town organizations might be interested in using the building and found that a number would be able to use it, although none full time.
