July 28, 2006

Cleaning Up

If you drive by the site of the New Darien Library -- 1441 Post Road, where it joins Hecker Avenue -- you'll see a hole in the ground. What's going on? Well actually, something really wonderful for Darien -- and we don't mean building a Library.

We have cleaned up the environmental contamination left by the previous tenant, primarily gasoline and other chemical spills. Dot Kelly, who serves on the Library's New Building Committee, and who has been heavily involved in overseeing the remediation work, including coordinating with the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, said recently that merely by cleaning up the site, even before building a new library, "Darien Library has done a great thing for the town."

Dot and several others were present when the first stage of remediation -- demolition of the buildings on the site -- started in February. Here's a picture of Dot, together with Library Director Louise Berry, on a cold day in February.

What's left of our work is a small excavation, with all contamination removed, ready for the real work to begin:

So the small hole is evidence of progress that's already made Darien a better place. Although we could do without that portable toilet!

Posted by Alan Kirk Gray at 12:42 PM