Newsletter Fall 2006

GUILFORD PRESERVATION ALLIANCE

MASTHEAD ARTWORK PROVIDED BY SUZANNE KRIGER

The Guilford Preservation Alliance hasrecently received two significantgrants from area funders. The first,

awarded in May by the Connecticut Trustfor Historic Preservation, is a HistoricPreservation Technical Assistance Grant.This grant is helping the GPA buildcapacity; in particular by creating a part-timeexecutive director position. The secondgrant, awarded in late October, is from theCommunity Foundation of Greater NewHaven. This grant is aimed at our efforts topreserve the historic train station buildings inthe Town Center South area.

Through the generosity of these funders,the GPA is pleased to announce thepromotion of Ann Hollingsworth Weedento the Executive Director position. Ms.Weeden, a long-time Guilford resident, hasserved for over a year as the GPA

Administrative Assistant. She has been agreat support for me and my colleagues onthe board. In this new role, she will be moredirectly involved with preservation projects,

advocacy, and implementing the GPAstrategic plan. We are delighted to have heron board and are grateful to the CT Trustfor this grant. Ann is second generationGPA; her father, Al Hollingsworth, served asGPA president in the ‘80s. Ms. Weeden liveson historic Fair Street with her husband,Peter, and their sons, Alec and Sam.

In addition, the campaign to “Save theGuilford Depot” has received a real boost.The Community Foundation of GreaterNew Haven has awarded the GPA a grantfor $20,000 to help in its efforts tostabilize, restore and revitalize the historictrain station buildings. This ongoingproject has the potential to be the catalystfor positive change in the Town CenterSouth area. The membership of the GPAhas already raised $30,000 toward thisproject. With this grant, the GPA is in aposition to capitalize on the investment themembers have made and begin thestabilization of the water tower. It is thehope of the GPA board to seek furthergrant assistance with this project,eventually restoring and revitalizing boththe water tower and engine house.

Coming on the heels of the ConnecticutCommission on Culture & Tourism grantto fund the Village Walkway feasibilitystudy, these two new grants demonstratethe success the GPA has had incommunicating its vision and results toarea funders. The completion of astrategic plan and the building oforganizational capacity helped convincefunders we are on the right path, with aserious mission. The grants demonstratethe promise for historic preservationactivities and education on the horizonfor the GPA. It is exciting to have thesupport of larger organizations as weendeavor to undertake major projects inGuilford.

– Preston Maynard

GPA Traffic-Calming Subcommitteecompetes with other interest groups

Ann Weeden and her two sons, Sam (7) and Alec (9)

GPA gains significant funding from area foundation sources

With the population of the United States piercing the 300 million mark inOctober of this year and expected to cross 400 million by mid-century,planners in towns like Guilford have plenty of grist for their mills. Further, the

East and West coasts and particularly, areas within the catchments of large cities on thecoasts, such as New York, are expected to experience more accelerating trends. This mayincreasingly pit drivers against a growing volume of bicyclists and walkers. While theGuilford Preservation Alliance can, and has, taken credit for stimulating action onplanning for the future of the town center (see our Summer Newsletter: TCS—AVoyage of Discovery), the Alliance has been a late comer to the community’s effort toadvocate for the lowly pedestrian. But as Town Engineer Jim Portley, the czar of trafficcalming in Guilford, says of that effort, “You have to strike a balance” amongcompeting interests, so the GPA joined the competition.

As the Town itself focused on managing growth in the village proper, our VillageCenter Committee (see centerfold article in this issue), seeking to coordinate effortswith those of the Town, set up a Traffic Calming Subcommittee to secure a place at theconference table. The subcommittee in 2005 picked up the banner of a pedestrian-friendly town center that had been raised at the GPA’s 2004 brain-storming charrette bysome 100 local participants, and ran with it. We shortly met with Jim Portley and weresoon won over to three initiatives already undertaken by the Town, namely constructionof sidewalks, pedestrian crosswalks and traffic islands respectively. continued on page 4

photo by Ellen Ebert

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No part ofGuilfordcontains

so rich and varied acollection of living

monuments to the town’shistory as the neighborhood

from the Town Green to the trainstation and between Sluice Creek andWhitfield Street on the east and westside respectively. The area embraces thetown center, the splendid parade of19th-century residences on WhitfieldStreet, the 1639 Henry Whitfield StateMuseum, the historic Rollwood Farm(otherwise known as the WoodruffProperty) and the two landmark 19th-century railroad buildings on the northside of the tracks east of the town’s newrail commuter depot. The propertiesbordering Sluice Creek, by contrast,

include anexpanse ofmeadowlandin thenortheastcorner of theRollwoodFarm, thebeautiful lawnmaintained bythe GuilfordAgriculturalSociety on its

sweeping Fair Grounds, the variedwetlands and water course of SluiceCreek itself, the remnant of theLombard family’s pasture behind thehouses on the south side of BostonStreet and, finally, the Hyland Houseand Thomas Griswold Museum justa few paces east of the Creek onBoston Street. A pedestrian path

through this wonderland, in short, would offerboth an historic architectural feast and a rare tasteof nature in the very center of the village.

That so much open space escaped residentialdevelopment in the very heart of town was acuriosity that became apparent several years agowhen the Rollwood Farm was put up for saleand threatened with subdivision. As ourSummer Newsletter pointed out, the GuilfordPreservation Alliance and other interestedgroups organized to save the Farm as open spaceand the Town in 2003 stepped in and purchasedthe tract.

In 2004 the Town decided to establish a selectcommittee to study the future needs of the so-called Town Center South neighborhood and topropose means to address them. The GPA’s ownTown Center South Committee, renamed theVillage Center Committee to avoid confusionwith the official body, thereupon decided to lower its voice and let the official body proceedunder its mandate to develop a plan for futuredevelopment between the Green and Town Dock.

However, we did not disband. Instead, seeking aproject that would sustain our momentumwithout interfering with the work of the Town’scommittee, we fastened on the idea of just sucha pedestrian path connecting the town centerand the train station. The idea had emerged atthe GPA’s 2004 brainstorming charrette, atwhich some 100 self-selected town planners hadsimultaneously recommended that such a link

GPA-sponsored feasibility study plots

a pedestr ian pathalong �luice �reek

the barns of Rollwood Farm/W

above: Sluice Creekwetland area

right: Sluice Creek atthe culvert whichruns under Stone

House Lane

The Sluice Creek wetlandhas become overgrown

with exotic non-native,invasive plants.

A pedestrian path through

this wonderland would

offer both an historic

architectural feast and a

rare taste of nature in the

very center of the village.

All photos by Elena M. Pascarella or Linda A. Steere

be part of the overall design for the future of thearea. After testing the response of the TCSCommittee through our representative on thatcommittee and finding no opposition, we wentto work.

Our first step was to seek the help ofknowledgeable people. This included membersof the Woodruff Farm Committee—mostimportantly, Harvey Smith, past Selectman—which had been established by the Town in2003 to determine the best use for thatproperty. We also sought advice from the Townitself and found an enthusiastic partner in theTown’s extraordinarily dedicated environmentalplanner, Leslie Kane. Next, we partnered withthe Town for a Certified Local Governmentgrant from the Historic Preservation andMuseum Division of the ConnecticutCommission on Culture and Tourism. We wereawarded $8,000, with matching funds to beprovided by us and the Town equally. The Townprovided “in kind” services. We provided bothfunding and “in kind” services. We thengathered at the Library with neighborhoodproperty owners to ensure that our work wouldbe entirely inclusive and transparent. And,finally, we began our feasibility study work.

First, we began our search for a design firm, onethat could address the extraordinary character ofthis near-wilderness in the middle of town. As it

happened, one of thecontestants combined expertisein landscape architecture andenvironmental science–thecollaborating team ofLandscape Elements LLC ofPawcatuck Connecticut, andApplied Bio-Systems Inc. ofWest Kingston, Rhode Island,headed by Elena M. Pascarellaand Linda A. Steererespectively. Their initialpresentation to our committeeupended the competition andthey and we, joined by LeslieKane, began the search for afeasible plan.

The result, after a half-year of study and projection, waspresented to the public thispast October 18th at aCommunity Center forum and contained in a handsome32-page, four-color brochure,from which the accompanyingillustrations are drawn. What exactly the eventualfootpath will look like is anyone’s guess, but theelements of a stunningly beautiful in-townrecreational resource are already in sight.

– Corinne McManemin

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Woodruff Property the Henry Whitfield House

Far Left: the GuilfordFairgrounds

Left: Rustic woodenpost and rail fencingwith wire mesh orchicken wire fabric can provide security for owners of propertyabutting the walkwaywhile allowing thenatural landscape ofthe area to be viewed.

the historic water tower and engine house at the train depot

top: arial sketch of Boston Street showingwalkway route along sidewalks

bottom: current view down Boston Street

The full brochuremay be viewed on our web site

� r e m i n d e r s �

• Don’t forget to renewyour membership.

• For furtherinformation aboutGPA activities consultour Web site at:www.guilfordpreservation.org

GUILFORD PRESERVATION ALLIANCEP.O. Box 199 • Guilford, CT 06437

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDPermit #559

New Haven, CT

Traffic-Calming continued from page 1

The first of these initiatives had alreadyborne fruit in the ongoing construction of asidewalk on the east side of River Streetbetween Broad Street and Route 1.Theoretically, sidewalks serve to definetown centers, giving increased coherence tourban precincts as well as attractingpedestrians, who discourage automobilespeeding on accompanying streets. TheRiver Street project has demonstrablyincreased pedestrian traffic there, althoughit remains to be seen what impact it ishaving on the speed of vehicular traffic.Portley hopes to extend the sidewalksouthward to Water Street.

At the same time, urged by the GPAsubcommittee, the Town decided, afterlengthy discussion, to build a pedestriancrosswalk across River Street at itsintersection with Broad, effectivelyextending the north sidewalk on BroadStreet into the Guilford Land Trust’sproperty along the West River. This shouldencourage visitors to cross this increasinglyfast moving street and enjoy this park,which is a true jewel of the village district.

In the meantime, with our enthusiasticsupport and that of a number of other

organizations, Portley has overseen thedesign and prospective placement ofseventeen pedestrian crosswalks around theTown Green. If all goes according to plan,the crosswalks will be in place by next

spring. Their design will resemble that ofthe crosswalk recently placed on WhitfieldStreet just south of the train tracks.

Finally, work on the third initiative, trafficislands, has already progressed to a pointwhere mixed feedback can be heard—andattended to. As Portley concedes, some ofthe islands, especially those in rural areas,

have not worked out as anticipated and,accordingly, may be removed. But hedefends the new island placed at the newcrosswalk on Whitfield Street (photo atleft.) That island was designed – neighborssay well designed – to discourage speedingin an increasingly residential neighborhoodand to facilitate pedestrian crossing ofWhitfield Street. However, just a fewmonths after construction, it has been thescene of several minor traffic accidentsdespite signs at the approach and on theisland itself. Undeterred, Portley points outthat the first three accidents, according tothe police, involved driving while underthe influence and thus tend to support thecase for some kind of traffic-calmingintervention at that location. Still, as withother islands recently placed in town, he isstudying this particular one’s effectivenessand contemplating “tweaking” it throughlighting or road-surface markings to alertdrivers to its presence. He is specifically notplanning to erect new street signs. SaysPortley, signage, especially in the villageproper, has already passed the point ofdiminishing returns.

– Patrick Smith

photo by Ellen Ebert