On one side of Post Road West, heading toward town, sits the classic-looking Kings Highway Elementary School.
A few yards away — on the other side of Burr Road — looms an industrial-type building, showing its age.
The current name is nondescript: Westport Rehabilitation Complex. So was the previous one: Westport Health Care Center. Many Westporters still call it “Mediplex.”
Connecticut Rehabilitation Complex. In the background: Kings Highway Elementary School.
It looks like a stereotypical “nursing” or “old age home.” Sure, those are outdated terms.
But so is the structure.
Next Monday (June 27, 7 p.m., Zoom), the Planning & Zoning Commission holds a public hearing on a text amendment that would substantially change the look of the building.
And adapt its use to more modern “senior care.”
Rick Redniss — principal at Redniss & Mead, a surveying, civil engineering and planning firm, who has been involved in Westport projects like the renovation of Richmondville Mill and the conversion of 136 Riverside Avenue to housing for adults with special needs — hopes to expand the current standards for nursing homes to include a new medical facility specializing in Alzheimer’s, dementia and other memory impairment care.
The new proposal would gut renovate the interior, and redo the façade and roof, but essentially maintain the current footprint. Additional square footage would be added to the top 2 floors, to accommodate the new use.
The existing 120 beds would be reduced by almost half, to 68 units. Redniss notes that memory care — a growing segment of eldercare — requires a less intense use of staff than a skilled nursing home, too.
The property would be modernized and enhanced, with better landscaping and protections for nearby residents.
This is not the first time a new use has been proposed for the old site.
During the past few years, the landlord has submitted applications or pre-application requests to either change the use to a luxury hotel, or demolish the existing structure and construct a new assisted living facility.
Both proposals faced obstacles, and were withdrawn.
Connecticut Rehabilitation Complex;s Burr Street entrance.
The timing now is important. Westport Rehabilitation has an option to extend their lease, and continue to operate as they have been. An agreement in place would allow this new project to proceed.
Redniss says that feedback from town departments and engineers — as well as a pre-application meeting with P&Z — has been included in this current plan.
And, he adds, the height and feel of the renovation will complement the elementary school directly across the street.
(The June 27 public hearing will be livestreamed at 7 p.m. at westportct.gov, Optimum Channel 79 and Frontier Channel 6020. Comments may be sent prior to the meeting to PandZ@westportct.gov. Interested parties may offer live testimony via Zoom.)
(“06880” reporting relies on reader support. Please click here to contribute.)
Longtime Westporter Tom Hofstetter — whose civic involvement in Westport included Sunrise Rotary, sports, the arts, his church and more — died peacefully last week in Aiken, South Carolina. He was 90.
The Baltimore native majored in history at Washington College, then attended the University of Maryland Law School. After training at the Army Intelligence School, he served as an undercover CIC agent in Japan and Korea, at the end of the Korean War.
Back in the US, he obtained credentials from a small Maryland newspaper, and traveled to Cuba to report on the revolution there. He endured a restaurant bombing, and had weapons pointed in his face.
Returning to Baltimore, Tom worked in sales with Dun & Bradstreet, then transitioned into the brokerage business with Merrill Lynch. He became Walston & Company’s Northeastern sales manager, while completing courses at the University of Pennsylvania’s Investment Banking Institute.
Tom proposed to his wife Sally the first day he met her, at a Sunday morning church service.
He worked closely with Maryland’s governor and Baltimore’s mayor on many civic initiatives. He held leadership positions on the Baltimore Jail Board, Airport Planning Commission, Jaycees and Tourism Commission, and Fort McHenry. In 1964 he ran as the Republican candidate for Maryland’s 7th US Congressional District.
After moving to Westport in 1969, Tom served as vice president at Walston’s New York headquarters, and was active at the New York Stock Exchange. He led their first national marketing conference, and was pivotal in the exchange’s expansion into insurance and annuity sales.
ThomasHofstetter
After Wall Street, he opened Westport’s first brokerage branch. He built an extensive brokerage presence in Fairfield County, as Salomon Smith Barney’s vice president of investments.
He also traveled throughout Europe, in Hungary and Slovenia prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain. He sailed extensively too, on his sailboat moored at Compo Beach.
In Westport Tom founded the Sunrise Rotary Club, and served as president of Little League. He was also chief of the Tanka Tiki Indians – YMCA Indian Guides; board member of the Westport-Weston Foundation; board member of the Westport Historical Society; deacon of Greens Farms Congregational Church; 2-term master of Masonic Lodge #65; president of the Norwalk Symphonic Orchestra, and chairman of the board of Ashlar of Newtown, a skilled nursing facility.
In retirement Tom spent time at his Vermont cabin of 30 years, exploring the back country. He and Sally also traveled through the Caribbean, Russia, the Cape of Good Hope and the Arctic. He became a scholar of Arctic history and a collector of Inuit art, traveling extensively by light aircraft and Russian icebreaker to the far reaches of the area.
Relocating to Aiken in 1998, Tom promoted the arts. He served as president of the Augusta Opera, co-founder and past chairman of the Aiken Symphony, founder of the Aiken Opera Society, and trustee of Friends of Hopelands and Rye Patch, Inc.
He also created Aiken Performing Arts, which introduced the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra to the area in 2005. He brought in world-class artists, while creating outreach opportunities through master classes and more.
Tom is survived by Sally, his wife of 62 year; son Thomas C. Hofstetter III, daughter Kimberly Dracon, 5 grandsons and sister Joyce May.
Funeral services are set for Saturday, June 25 in Aiken. Tom will be laid to rest on Thursday, June 30 in Westport, at a private family burial.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Aiken Symphony Orchestra, 262 East Gate Drive #440, Aiken, SC 29803.
Shonda Rhimes — the producer/screenwriter/author/global media company CEO/Television Academy Hall of Fame inductee — entertained, inspired and wowed a sold-out crowd at last night’s Westport Library “Booked for the Evening” fundraiser. Actors Tony Goldwyn and Scott Foley were there too.
The leader in both her industry and for women of color, Rhimes is known for telling great stories (check out Netflix!). On stage before an appreciative audience, in a conversation with Vanity Fair editor Rhadika Jones, she spent her evening in Westport doing exactly that.
Shonda Rhimes, at the Westport Library. (Photo/Jerri Graham Photography)
Ceremonies are held at Westport’s 2 middle and 5 elementary schools.
Dylan Chatterjee captured this scene yesterday, outside Bedford, where his sister Mia was celebrated. It seems symbolic: 8th graders moving toward the light of Staples High School, both literally and figuratively.
(Photo/Dylan Chatterjee)
Congratulations to all 5th and 8th graders — I mean, rising 6th graders and freshman — all over town!
To celebrate, Pollinator Pathways organizers in Westport and surrounding towns are showcasing properties — both public and private — where habitat-friendly landscaping is done. They’ll also provide information on how homeowners can create Pollinator Pathway yards of their own.
It’s this Saturday (June 25) at 4 separate Westport sites, all 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Earthplace (3 gardens), Prospect Road (privately owned), Smith-Richardson Wildlife Preserve (2 meadows) and Wakeman Town Farm (a 100-foot pollinator border).
Weston’s Onion Farm tour is also Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Guides and gardeners will be on hand, to answer questions.
Click here, then scroll down to plan your tour. You’ll also see Pollinator Pathway tours throughout Fairfield, New Haven and Westchester Counties.
The Westport Public Schools and Westport Weston Family YMCA have teamed up to coordinate child care — before and after school – for youngsters in grades K-5, during the coming school year.
The program includes arts and crafts, STEM activities, themed projects, outdoor and physical activities, homework help and snacks.
Transportation will be provided to and from the elementary schools, and YMCA.
The before-school program runs from 7 to 9 a.m. for Coleytown, Greens Farms, Kings Highway and Long Lots Schools, 7 to 8:30 a.m. for Saugatuck.
The after-school program runs from dismissal until 6 p.m. Students who sign up for any youth programs taking place during after-school care hours — karate, swim lessons, soccer shots, basketball, gymnastics, fencing or dance — will be accompanied to their program by a staff member. There is a separate fee for those programs.
3-, 4 and 5-day signups are available. Click here for more information, and to register.
Sure, it was 2 days ago. But we can’t resist a good photo. Here’s a bird’s-eye view of the Levitt Pavilion during Sunday’s Michael Franti & Spearhead show:
(Photo/JC Martin)
Encore: Here’s a video of Michael, complete with a shout-out to Westport:
Looking ahead, the Levitt celebrates the final days of Pride Months with 2 performances.
Isle of Klezbos is this Thursday (June 23, 7:30 p.m.). New York magazine says their repertoire ranges from “rambunctious to entrancing: Neo-traditional folk dance, mystical melodies, Yiddish swing & retro tango, late Soviet-era Jewish drinking song, re-grooved standards, and genre-defying originals.”
It’s about time Levitt had some Yiddish swing and late Soviet-era Jewish drinking songs! Click here for (free!) ticket information.
Next week, it’s “Queer + Quiet”: an evening with Treya Lam (Tuesday, June 28, 7 p.m.). They’ll “lift up the underrepresented, quiet, marginalized voices in the BIPOC trans, non-binary, queer community.” Click here for (also free!) ticket information.
The June 27 (7 p.m.) Westport Library showing of the award-winning documentary “Four Winters” is noteworthy.
The film tells the story of the 25,000 Jewish partisans who battled the Nazis and their collaborators from the forests of Eastern Europe. The men and women — many in their teens — blew up trains, burned electric stations and attacked enemy headquarters.
But there’s also an important local connection: “Four Winters”‘ writer/producer/director Julia Mintz is a Weston High School graduate.
NOTE: “Four Winters” supporters have designed a program for screenings and talkbacks at colleges that don’t have Jewish Studies departments, or funding for Holocaust programming. Click here to donate.
Weston native Julia Mintz, with an interviewee for “Four Winters.”
Lou Weinberg is the passionate, creative and very hands-on director of the Westport Community Gardens. He knows flowers, trees, grasses and bushes — and birds, bees, rabbits and all other wildlife there.
He’s also a gifted photographer.
Here’s his description of today’s stunning “Westport … Naturally” photo: “This gray catbird is eating a berry from a serviceberry tree. This native tree produces flowers and an abundance of fruit for a multitude of birds this time of year. If you like birds, plant serviceberry trees!”
My wife and I just bought a home in Westport. We will move there in September.
As a soon-to-be resident, reading “06880” has helped me get to know the town. For example, I already know that everyone on the railroad parking wait list will soon get a pass.
But what else should I know?
I’m looking for a quick crash course about the town. It could be anything from “avoid this road during these hours” to “this parking lot always has spaces” to “what do I need to know about Compo Beach.”
I realize you could write hundreds of tips. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask.
Great idea!
You’re right. I could give hundreds (if not squintillions). Here are a few quick ones, in random order:
You need a ticket for the 4th of July fireworks at Compo Beach. (Which in Westport are never actually on the 4th. This year, they’re June 30th.) Westport PAL puts them on, with help from Melissa & Doug (the innovative toy company). Tickets are available at Parks & Rec headquarters (in Longshore, near the 1st tee) and police headquarters (Jesup Road). The $40/vehicle ticket supports a huge variety of PAL programs — so even if you watch the fireworks elsewhere, or don’t park at the beach, consider donating to PAL.
If everyone cooperates, getting into the beach for the fireworks goes smoothly.
Speaking of which: Unfortunately, Westport’s Parks & Recreation Department website is the least user-friendly I’ve seen since dial-up modem days. From the non-intuitive way to sign up for hand passes (for tennis, golf, Longshore pool, etc.), beach emblems (we actually call them “stickers”) and boat launch permits — hint: click on “Memberships” — to the random, dizzying list of options in every category, on through all the clicks needed to jump from page to page and back again, it’s a cluster****.
The good news is: If you’re free when the office is open, head there yourself. (As noted above, it’s in Longshore, near the golf course 1st tee.) The employees are fantastic: knowledgeable, helpful, friendly and fun.
The bad news is: I can’t tell you when the office is open. It’s nowhere on the website — at least, nowhere I could find.
The Parks & Rec Department office, at Longshore. (Photo/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)
Speaking of the beach: The best sunsets for miles around are at Compo’s South Beach. That’s the area from the cannons to the kayak launch. There’s often a convivial crowd — perhaps because that’s the only area on a Westport beach where alcohol is permitted. (No glass, please!)
South Beach is also where, on a beautiful evening, every grill might be taken. Tables are first-come, first-served. Despite that notice on every table, some people “reserve” them by leaving blankets, chairs, even coolers all around, then leaving the beach for the next few hours.
You are perfectly within your rights to take that table. However, I am not responsible for whatever happens next. I’m just sayin’….
This does not reserve you a South Beach table.
A few other tips: The town dump is called the “transfer station.” On the Sherwood Island Connector, it’s where you toss household garbage, furniture, carpeting, lamps, televisions, electronics, batteries and similar items. Much of it is recycled. Workers there are very helpful and friendly. On Saturday mornings especially, it’s a great place to meet other Westporters.
The best shortcut in town that does not involve annoying other residents is the Merritt Parkway between Exits 41 and 42. You get from the YMCA/Wilton area to Coleytown/Weston without circling through Wilton Road, North Kings Highway and Main Street. Even when the Merritt traffic creeps along, it’s usually quicker.
The Imperial Avenue parking lot is underrated – not only for events at the Levitt Pavilion, but even for downtown. The pedestrian bridge connecting it to the Levitt and Library is easy and gorgeous — and the lot is nearly always empty.
Deadman Brook bridge, between the Levitt Pavilion and Imperial Avenue (Photo/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)
You will see the Remarkable Bookcycle parked somewhere around town: the beach perhaps, or Bedford Square or the Westport Book Shop on Jesup Road. The concept is cool — take a book, give a book — but there’s a back story. It’s decorated with the “dancing man” logo of the Remarkable Book Shop, a beloved (and long-gone) Main Street institution. Fun fact: The Bookcycle is the brainchild of Jane Green. Yes, that Jane Green. The internationally known author is a fellow Westporter.
(Photo/Judith Shaw)
Those are just a few top-of-the-head ideas. I am sure every “06880” reader — at least, those who have been here more than 10 minutes — can add his or her own.
So, let’s do it. Click “Comments” below to pass along info that every newcomer needs to know. Along with this last one:
You don’t need to buy milk and eggs every time snow is predicted. But do pay attention to rain and wind advisories.
There’s not a lot that’s certain in Westport, but this much is: You will lose power.
The Yankee Doodle fair ended at 5 p.m. yesterday. The last cars cleared out of the Library/Levitt Pavilion parking lot, just as the first concert-goers arrived for the Michael Franti show.
It was a full day of fun, for all ages. Summer in Westport has begun!
“06880” readers know local photographers Michael Chait and Michael Tomashefsky for their work, featured previously in this blog.
They can see more of the duo’s Westport landscapes this weekend (Saturday, June 25, 4 to 7 p.m.; Sunday, June 26, 1 to 4 p.m., Michael Chait Studio, 11 Riverside Avenue, 2nd floor).
Chait — who is known for using his camera like a paint brush — has shown his works at the Brooklyn Museum and MoMA.
Tomashefsky is an award-winning landscape and travel photographer. He has spent over 3 decades showcasing Westport’s natural beauty.
Speaking of art: Linda Colletta hosts a “Stomp Out Gun Violence” fundraiser and awareness event in her studio (July 7, 7 to 9 p.m., 33 Elm Street). It’s a benefit for Moms Demand Action. The event includes guest speakers.
Eleven pairs of her Vans painting sneakers — part of her artistic process — will auctioned off. They’re mounted and encased in Plexiglas boxes.
To RSVP, email reni@lindacolletta.com.
Linda Colletta’s Vans sneakers. An integral part of her artistic process, 11 pairs will be auctioned off at the “Stomp Out Gun Violence” fundraiser. (Photo/Chloe Crespi)
When Staples High School assistant principal James Farnen moved to Westport several years ago, he inherited a garden planted by previous owner Dale Lamberty.
He continues to tend it. And every spring, he’s rewarded with roses like these — today’s “Westport … Naturally” feature.
And finally … it’s hard to believe, but Brian Wilson turns 80 year old today. (I missed Paul McCartney’s 80th on Saturday).
The Beach Boys’ genius singer/songwriter/producer has had a famously difficult life. He grew with a tyrannical father; he was a perfectionist whose masterful harmonies and complex orchestrations never seemed to live up to his own high standards, and he has battled mental illness for decades.
He did not even like to surf.
But his songs live on. They sound as fresh today as they did in the 1960s. Like his influences George Gershwin, Phil Spector and Burt Bacharach, they are part of the American songbook.
Here are 5 of my favorite Brian Wilson songs. Click “Comments” to add yours.
In just a few months since becoming a non-profit, “06880” has been more than just a blog.
We partnered with the Westport Library on an educational evening about Ukraine. We helped arrange a meeting between one of the Little Rock 9 civil rights pioneers, and students in Westport and Bridgeport. We sponsored the 1st-ever downtown Holiday Stroll.
And now that the IRS has granted us official tax-exempt status, we’re poised to do even more.
For 13 years, readers’ contributions have generously funded “06880.” Donations support all aspects of the blog, including writing, web hosting fees, software, and more.
Now — with donors receiving tax deductions, plus opportunities for corporate matching grants and foundation funds — we can begin hosting events; developing more community-wide educational, entertainment and inspirational programs; hiring writers for fuller coverage, and supporting worthy causes.
Thanks for your support so far. We hope our tax-exempt status eencourages other individuals, plus foundations, to help. Click here to donate. Click here for more on “06880”‘s mission, and our board of directors.
PS: Mark your calendar: Thursday, July 21. That’s our annual “06880” blog party, at Compo Beach.
And — thanks to our non-profit status — this year the town is allowing a limited number of out-of-towners (without beach stickers) in for free. See you there!
There are not a lot of reasons to look up on Main Street.
Most folks are focused on where they’re headed. If you’re crossing the street, be alert — Westport drivers are not always, um, courteous.
Nor is the architecture particularly compelling.
Most of it, anyway.
The Blue Mercury building — on the east side of Main Street — has an interesting feature up near the top: 2 windows with blue trim. (Click here to see.)
Morley Boyd calls an “Italianate-style gable sash.” Who am I to argue?
It was the subject of last week’s Photo Challenge. Besides Morley, 3 other “06880” readers recognized this architectural quirk: Lynn Untermeyer Miller, Elaine Marino and Mary Ann Batsell. Congratulations (but watch where you’re going!).
This week’s Photo Challenge is below. If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.
HINT: It’s not Friendly’s That closed many years ago.
(Photos/Seth Schachter)
(The Photo Challenge — and the rest of “06880” — runs completely on reader support. To donate, please click here.)
Click here to help support “06880” via credit card or PayPal. Any amount is welcome, appreciated — and tax-deductible! Reader contributions keep this blog going. (Alternate methods: Please send a check to “06880”: PO Box 744, Westport, CT 06881. Or use Venmo: @blog06880. Or Zelle: dwoog@optonline.net. Thanks!)
GET THE “06880” APP
The “06880” app (search for it on the Apple or Android store) is the easiest way to get “06880.” Choose notifications: whenever a new post is published, or once or twice a day. Click here for details.
