As members of the Georgetown Community Association (GCA) are mobilizing an effort to preserve the historic Gilbert & Bennett school building and ensure its continued use as a community center, Wilton’s Town officials are attempting to calm some community members’ fears about the fate of the beleaguered building.
On Aug. 29, the Wilton Health Department deemed the building unsafe to occupy, forcing the occupants of the building — tenants of the G&B Cultural Center — to vacate the property.
Leaders of the GCA (which installed the Cultural Center) and the GCA’s attorney publicly disputed the Town’s handling of the situation at a Dec. 17 Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting, when they criticized the Town for lack of transparency and offered to discuss buying the property.
More recently, members of the GCA have been actively trying to raise awareness of the controversy over the building — launching a new membership drive, an email campaign, and a change.org petition titled “Save The Gilbert & Bennett School and Grounds” seeking signatures from Wilton residents.
On Jan. 13, GMW reached out to First Selectman Toni Boucher for comment about the building’s status and the GCA’s latest activity.
At that time, Boucher reported she had only received three emails from residents. All three emails appeared to have been composed using a template promoted by the GCA which encouraged residents to convey “opposition to the sale of the G&B building and grounds and their [BOS] total lack of transparency”:
“I, as a resident of Wilton, am opposed to the selling of the Gilbert and Bennett school and grounds. For 60 years Wilton has fulfilled an obligation that it made with the Gilbert and Bennett manufacturing company and the people of Georgetown for the school to be used for community purposes. The school and its grounds are at the heart of the Georgetown Historic District and we oppose anything that would disrupt or destroy this historic district. We are also concerned about the lack of transparency that the town has demonstrated in their current dealings regarding this building and its grounds. The electorate of Wilton deserves better than this.”
What Is Wilton’s “Obligation”?
Town officials dispute the GCA’s assertion that Wilton has “an obligation” to continue to make the G&B building available for community use. Boucher points to the property deed, which contains no requirements for Wilton to do so — in contrast to the deed for Town-owned buildings at Amber Farm, which explicitly requires the Town to maintain the buildings in good order. [Editor’s note: Friends of Ambler Farm representatives have stated Wilton has failed to fulfill those obligations.]
The GCA — as well as historian and local resident Julie Hughes — believe the Town did make a commitment at the time it acquired the G&B property. [Editor’s note: Hughes has discussed the topic with GMW as a concerned citizen and devoted historian, not in her official capacity as the archivist at Wilton Library. UPDATE: An earlier version of this story identified Hughes as a member of the Wilton Historical Society Board of Trustees. Hughes is no longer on the Historical Society’s board.]
Hughes said she has reviewed public documents and statements from Wilton town officials during the 1964 negotiations which she believes documented the spirit of the Town’s commitment that the community aspect of the building would continue.
“These agreements were recorded in the minutes of the Board of Selectmen, the Board of Finance, and the Board of Education, as well as in correspondence between these boards and the Gilbert & Bennett Mfg. Co.,” Hughes wrote in her memo to GMW.
Boucher and Town Administrator Matt Knickerbocker insist that the Town has no such legal obligation. Knickerbocker told GMW that even if previous Town leaders expressed such intentions, “they are not binding.”
“[A previous town official] cannot encumber any future Board of Selectmen decision-making unless it’s in [a contract] or deed,” Knickerbocker stated. “So regardless of somebody saying ‘in perpetuity’ or whatever, that’s not binding. Now, whether the Board of Selectmen choose to honor it… that would be entirely up to them. Future boards can do what they need to do, what they feel is correct.”
Are Developers at the Door?
The “Save The Gilbert & Bennett School and Grounds” petition highlights fears that a sale of the property could mean commercial redevelopment and the loss of a historic building.
As written in the petition, “The sale of this beloved institution and its grounds would not only destroy our link to local history, but it would also disrupt the cohesiveness of our community.”
The GCA’s goal for the petition is to “send a decisive message to the relevant authorities that we cannot and will not stand by as our community cornerstone is bartered away.”
As of noon on Jan. 15, the petition has garnered 349 signatures.
But how likely is a sale of the building? Boucher has previously expressed her openness to selling the property and has publicly stated that she does not believe Wilton can afford all of the repairs the building needs. However, there is “no active interest,” according to Town officials.
“I would bring any official offer on the building to the BOS if we get one, but we do not have a money offer to date,” Boucher wrote in a Dec. 20 email to GMW.
In fact, Boucher responded to residents’ emails that “no developer has contacted me” about the property.
“My primary concern is that whoever is interested [in buying G&B] would need to preserve the historic character of the building and have the funds to fix it,” Boucher wrote to GMW.
In a Jan. 14 email, she repeated her assurance that development plans are not on the table, and again emphasized the priority on preservation.
“There have been no development plans by anyone for this property, and preservation is a priority even if someone would contact us in the future,” she wrote.
Boucher also told GMW that she has not had any discussions with the GCA or its attorney since they publicly revealed their interest in buying the property at the Dec. 17 BOS meeting.
Both Boucher and Knickerbocker refuted the perception that the Town is secretly pursuing plans to sell the building or that a sale could somehow happen without residents’ knowledge.
“That is simply not possible,” Knickerbocker said. “There has to be multiple meetings, contracts have to be vetted, reviewed… There are several mechanisms in place that would prevent them from doing it in secret.”
Boucher provided GMW a copy of the Town counsel’s guidelines for any potential sale of the G&B building. Among other requirements, Wilton’s attorney indicated:
- “Under Connecticut General Statutes Sec. 7-163e, the Board of Selectmen must conduct a public hearing about the planned sale. It must give notice of the hearing by newspaper, with rules as to the type and timing of notice statements, and notice by posting a sign on the property.”
- “Any property zoned as ‘nonresidential’ can only be sold with approval from a Town Meeting.”
Repairing G&B: “The Question Is When“
Preservation might be Boucher’s desire, but there is currently no plan in place for any capital spending for the roughly $3 million in building repairs and updates needed at the G&B building — and that cost estimate does not necessarily include the costs of mold remediation or other issues exacerbated by the historic August rainfall event, which prompted the closure of the building.
Knickerbocker told GMW the results of extensive environmental testing have just been received by the Town. [GMW obtained a copy of the 88-page report and will review it.]
GMW asked Knickerbocker if the Town will develop an action plan based on the report, or if it is merely intended to provide information on the building’s needs.
“What we have in hand right now is just a report. We do not have a treatment plan as yet. This just came in a week or so ago,” he said. “But obviously, if anybody’s going to occupy and use the building, it has to be remediated [and] the building itself needs a lot of work. The roof needs to be replaced as a starting point.”
“It has to get fixed. The question is when,” Knickerbocker continued. “So, yes, it needs to be fixed. When is that going to happen, under what conditions?”
He went on to explain those “difficult decisions” would have to be made in the context of other urgent needs across all of Wilton’s municipal and school buildings competing for Wilton’s spending power. Wilton’s Town and Schools Needs Assessment Priorities Committee (TSNAP), which was tasked with recommending priorities for FY 2026 capital spending, does not appear likely to consider G&B’s needs in its final vote on recommendations, which is expected TSNAP’s meeting this evening (Jan. 15).
Knickerbocker also suggested a hypothetical scenario in which a private entity could pay for the necessary repairs with an attractive lease-back from the Town, as a possible strategy for getting the repairs done at no cost to taxpayers and ensuring the historic character is preserved. Boucher told GMW she would be open to such a scenario.
For now, the Town is preventatively tarping the roof at the G&B building to stave off additional damage.
At Wilton’s Historic District & Historic Properties Commission meeting on Jan. 14, commission chair Lori Fusco reported she recently had discussions with Knickerbocker to raise concerns the building will further deteriorate.
She reported that, in addition to the news about the roof tarp, Knickerbocker had informed her that Assistant DPW Director Jeff Pardo has been conducting weekly (and sometimes more frequent) checks on the vacant building, to ensure the heat is running and no new sources of water intrusion are found.
Fusco was somewhat reassured by the Town’s recent steps.
“I don’t feel like it’s being ignored,” Fusco told the HDHP commissioners. “Like with most things, it’s a process… At least it’s getting attention, which is step one, and it sounds like things are getting addressed so it doesn’t get worse, which is important.”
Still, Fusco indicated more diligence is needed.
“We’ll keep on it,” she said.
The commissioners discussed questions about HDHP’s purview in the event a new owner might wish to subdivide the large property or construct an additional building on it. Fusco said she would investigate and the commissioners would continue to discuss the issues.
The GCA is hosting a Zoom meeting open to the public tonight, Wed., Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. The link has been posted on social media, including the Save The Gilbert & Bennett School Facebook page.
It is important for the Wilton BOS to include all Georgetown, Wilton residents in all decisions about the unique, architectural G&B School Building. That means our neighbors of Redding, Weston and even Ridgefield!