Hope Floats: Town Plans for Future of Penfield Pavilion

Nearly eight months have passed since Superstorm Sandy barreled through Fairfield, but Penfield Pavilion remains shut down as the town decides the best course of action to repair the structure.

The pavilion was recently rebuilt to the tune of $5.5 million -- and then Sandy arrived.

The town's goal is not only to repair the structure, but also to understand why it faltered "so it doesn't happen again," Director of Public Works Joseph Michelangelo said Wednesday to the Board of Selectmen.

Thanks to funds appropriated in January for Sandy-related repairs, the town brought on a structural engineer, a coastal engineer, and a geotechnical engineer to scope out the pavilion's weakness and determine the best way to restore it.

Jose-Miguel Albaine, principal at JM Albaine Engineering LLC in Waterford, said Sandy's flooding scoured -- or essentially washed away -- the soil, sediment, and sand beneath Penfield Pavilion's footings, compromising the foundation's ability to hold up the building.

Thirty-eight percent of the total structure was compromised, Albaine said, and all of the ramps and stairs will have to be replaced.

Because FEMA revised flood zones after Sandy, the pavilion's location changed from a Zone A flood zone to Zone V, meaning the repaired structure will have to be raised higher from the ground. 

Albaine suggests raising the foundation five feet higher than it was to shore up for a "five hundred-year storm," not a hundred-year storm.

Another option is to take the building and move it northward into the parking lot. 

Or, as Selectman Kevin Kiley inquired about, the town could choose to tear down the structure and rebuild.

Albaine, the Public Works Department, and insurance company liaisons will be determining the costs for each option within the coming months. One thing is certain, though:

"The timeframe isn't a consideration," First Selectman Michael Tetreau said. "The consideration is doing it right so it will last."