To the editor,
The Naugatuck Train Station is still on the market. Several months ago the Mayor was presented with a petition signed by over 300 people requesting that the building not be sold. It would seem that Naugatuck officials simply disregard the desires of the townspeople, but follow the study by an out-of-town firm and its plans for our town.
What must one do to make our officials listen to us? Would 1,000 signatures on the petition have made any difference? I doubt it. As the saying goes, “You can’t fight city hall.”
Building 25 will be demolished because it has fallen in disrepair. Historic Preservation Officer Daniel Forrest stated his disappointment with the way Naugatuck officials over the years let the building deteriorate. We were told that there was never enough money to repair it although there were sizable funds set aside for the purpose.
Why is it that we can find $81 million to renovate a high school, but not enough to save a historic building?
The central office, as it used to be called, was the hub of the U.S. Rubber Co., and, according to Forrest, “is the sole surviving element of the borough’s industrial economy within the historic district.”
Where are our priorities?
I believe, from the beginning, our officials had hoped to sell Parcel C in its entirety with Building 25 eliminated. It could have been preserved. We have lost a historic children’s library as well as our old town hall due to poor judgment.
Is the new town hall an improvement over the old? Will selling Parcel C minus Building 25 be better for the town? What will we gain by selling the train station, a historic building designed by the architect of the Lincoln Memorial? Once it is sold, it is gone.
Supposedly, the NEDC is trying to sell the building for an upscale restaurant. According to the Plan for Parcel C, there will be a restaurant there and it is only a block from the train station. Carrie Welton’s has closed. Do we really need two more restaurants in Naugatuck and will they be supported?
The Tuttle House will be renovated and become the home of the Historical Society although many of the members are not in favor of this but would have preferred to be in Building 25. Town officials dictate where the society must move. The high school is now too large for the number of pupils, so the school board will be moved there from the Tuttle Building.
What must we, the people of Naugatuck, do to preserve our history because our officials are destroying it day by day.
Shirley Anderson
Naugatuck
