Nearly Three Dozen Contractors Interested in Penfield Pavilion Rebuild

Nearly three dozen contractors are expected to submit bids on the town's plan to demolish and rebuild the rest of Penfield Pavilion, a job priced by an independent estimator at $3.6 million, according to the project's architect.

Craig Wiles, the architect on the project, said 35 contractors bought documents for about $200 each from Connecticut Photo Blue on Black Rock Turnpike in Fairfield and that the vast majority of the documents were to demolish and rebuild the center and westerly sections of the 109-year-old pavilion. Only a few were for the supply and installation of kitchen equipment, which the town bid separately. The town Purchasing Department's Web site identifies 28 "plan holders," but that list was last updated July 9.

Fewer than 10 contractors bid on the job of demolishing and rebuilding the easterly section of Penfield Pavilion, which was done in 2008 at a cost of $1.5 million (the town had a $400,000 grant from the state, so the cost to taxpayers was $1.1 million), town officials said.

Bids to demolish and rebuild the rest of Penfield Pavilion, and to supply and install kitchen equipment, are due to be opened at 1 p.m. July 28 in Sullivan-Independence Hall.

Meanwhile, James Gallagher, chairman of the Penfield Pavilion Building Committee, said Thursday that he intends to sell the project to town boards that vote on funding requests based on the very thing some Fairfield residents are concerned about - the town spending money.

Gallagher said the cost of the Penfield project could be paid off in 10 years and the new pavilion would then be a "profit center" for the town. "I think the bigger number to sway the RTM and the Board of Finance is the return on investment. It's going to pay for itself very quickly, and then we're looking for it to be a profit center," he said.

Linda Crowley, a building committee member, said Friday that the 10-year payback cited by Gallagher was mostly based on rental revenue at the new pavilion. Rental revenue at Penfield Pavilion in 2008-09 was only $22,850, but Crowley pointed out that Penfield Pavilion, unlike the Jacky Durrell Pavilion, which is to the west of Penfield Pavilion, doesn't have a kitchen and is open only from May 29 to Sept. 6.

Rental revenue from the Jacky Durrell Pavilion totaled $116,547 in fiscal year 2008-09, according to the town's 2010-11 budget book.

The cost to rent the Jacky Durrell Pavilion for four hours is $800 for residents and $1,200 for non-residents, and the Jacky Durrell Pavilion is open from April 16 to Oct. 10.

Crowley said Penfield Pavilion, if it's rebuilt, would be available for rental for a longer period of time; town officials said the rates also would increase.

Ellery Plotkin, chairman of the town's Parks and Recreation Commission, suggested a different way to gain public support for the funding request. "Why don't we knock it down and let them go a year without it?" he asked.

The town recently set up architectural renderings of the new Penfield Pavilion inside the Fairfield Beach Road pavilion and may put brochures there as well. The building committee briefly debated whether to list Representative Town Meeting members' e-mail addresses so residents who support the project could write to them. "That's really what we're going to rely on...a lot of public support," Gallagher said.

A funding request to demolish and rebuild the rest of Penfield Pavilion would go before the Board of Selectmen Aug. 18; the Board of Finance in early September; and the RTM Sept. 28, Gallagher said.

Gallagher said three RTM members had asked him why a second floor wouldn't be built on the replacement structure because it could be leased to a seasonal restaurant, since the town doesn't have a waterfront restaurant.

Gallagher said the funding request for Penfield Pavilion would be submitted to town boards around the same time as other "big ticket items" that include $3 million to replace windows at Fairfield Ludlowe High School and about $1.6 million for renovations at Roger Sherman School.

In a letter to the editor about two weeks ago, Gallagher said it was unfair of town officials to say that the Penfield project had exceeded its budget since the building committee didn't even have a budget yet. "We've done the best we can to pare down this project. There are no frills with this project," he said.