Redding Pilot
Redding
Shays touts his bill to relocate Weir Farm offices to G&B site


Nov 26, 2007

Congressman Christopher Shays (R-4th) recently testified before the Natural Resources Committee on his bill, the Weir Farm National Historic Site Amendment Act. He said this bill would enable the National Park Service to move a planned Weir Farm administrative facility to the former Gilbert & Bennett wire mill site in Redding.

Weir Farm commemorates the work of American Impressionist J. Alden Weir, who made his summer home and studio there in 1882, he noted in his testimony.

Mr. Shays testified on Oct. 30 and later submitted a written statement of his testimony to the press on H.R. 1836, his bill, declaring, “Currently, Public Law 105-363 only authorizes land acquisition of property ‘contiguous to’ the park, which includes the towns of Ridgefield and Wilton. This bill would change this clause to ‘within Fairfield County,’ thereby allowing the NPS to consider facilities across the county.”

He said, “Weir Farm contributes to Connecticut’s rich culture and history. It is the only National Park Service site in Connecticut, and the only park in the country dedicated to an American painter... Weir Farm hosts approximately 15,000 to 17,000 visitors annually. These visitors come to enjoy the farm’s (60) acres and the studios that are a living monument to Julian Alden Weir’s work.”

The Park Service’s recommended location for a new administrative facility at the former Georgetown wire mill is two miles from Weir Farm, the congressman noted. His bill “would grant the Park Service the authority to expand the Weir Farm facilities into Redding. This measure has received support from the superintendent of Weir Farm, and the Wilton and Redding local communities,” he said.

“Weir Farm provides its visitors with a true understanding of the life of J. Alden Weir and the beautiful landscape he captured on canvas,” Mr. Shays said. “H.R. 1836 would allow the Park Service to continue to improve its off-site administrative facilities in keeping with the park’s mission ‘to maintain the integrity of a setting that inspired artistic expression,’ and I strongly urge the committee to support this bill.”

In testimony before a U.S. Senate subcommittee in mid-September, Daniel Wenk, deputy director of the National Park Service, speaking on behalf of Weir Farm National Historic Site, said the park has leased a building at the old wire mill site for more than 13 years. Mr. Wenk said the park leases 5,000 square feet of space and the amendment would allow the park to own 12,000 square feet of finished space of the old wire mill, “in exchange for all or part of the nine acres acquired by the park in Ridgefield.”

Among the alternatives to be studied is the potential land swap with Georgetown Land Development Company, which owns the former Gilbert and Bennett wire mill site in Georgetown. As envisioned, Weir Farm could give Georgetown Land Development acreage off Old Branchville Road that is near but not contiguous to Weir Farm’s historic core off Nod Hill Road at the Ridgefield-Wilton town line.

And Georgetown Land Development would give Weir Farm a building on the mill site in Georgetown that Weir Farm has been leasing and using for support functions for several years. To make this potential deal something the National Park Service could legally do, the federal law creating Weir Farm has to be amended.

The amendment to the federal legislation that created the Weir Farm National Historic Site in 1990 would allow the park management to consider a wider variety of options in trying to solve the problem posed by the need for support facilities  — from woodworking to storage — in the residential neighborhoods surrounding the farm.

“It doesn’t find a solution, it allows us to look at other alternatives,” said Linda Cook, supervisor of the Weir Farm Historic Site, in late September. “Until we go through that looking process we won’t know if we have a different alternative.” Ms. Cook confirmed that a potential acquisition at the wire mill was part of what’s behind the proposed amendment.

Georgetown Land Development Company has plans to redevelop the old wire mill site as a mixed-use “village” including housing, commercial and retail space, a community theater, a health club, a hospital facility and a new railroad station. Georgetown Land Development President Stephen Soler has not elaborated on a possible deal with Weir Farm but did confirm Weir Farm as a current tenant.

© Copyright 2007 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers