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From the newspapers and online ...
Pleasure Beach buildings mysteriously demolished
Connecticut Post - September 3, 2009
BRIDGEPORT -- The gleeful cries of children picking their favorite horse to sit on at the Pleasure Beach carousel are now just whispers in the wind. The thumping sounds of teens smashing bumper cars into each other are distant memories. This week, these last remnants of those happier days at the long abandoned Pleasure Beach amusement park came crashing down. The decrepit wooden structures that once housed the carousel and the bumper car ride were demolished after a deputy fire chief determined they were in danger of collapsing. But who demolished them, when and whether a permit was issued or even needed for the operation remain unanswered questions. "If nobody knows who took down what are considered two landmark buildings, no matter what condition they are in, then there's a problem some- place," said Morgan Kaolian, a founding director of Long Island Sound America and proponent for revitalizing Pleasure Beach. Kaolian said he intends to push for answers from the Board of Parks Commissioners during its meeting Tuesday. There's no question why the buildings were demolished. After decades of being battered by the weather without any maintenance, the wood deteriorated and the flimsy structures became unsafe, according to Deputy Fire Chief Bruce Porzelt. "The buildings were a safety factor," said Porzelt, who said he urged Charles Carroll, the city's director of public facilities and parks, to demolish the structures, not just the carousel and the bumper car shells but also the former Polka Dot Playhouse and what appears to have been a warehouse or bandstand. "I was out there about a month ago when I saw two kids inside one of them and a portion of the facade fell down. I yelled out and the kids took off. Luckily, no one was hurt," Porzelt said. Porzelt said there are two open septic system tanks near the warehouse building, and youths have been congregating in the former playhouse. He believes a heavy wind with someone inside is a recipe for disaster and an expensive lawsuit. "My guess is it took no time to push these structures over," Porzelt said. "A payloader could do it. It didn't cost the city anything." But Kaolian also raised questions about whether a demolition permit was obtained. An official in the city's Building Department said they had "no information at this time" about the demolition or a demolition permit. Porzelt said he is not sure if a demolition permit was needed since the buildings were only a single story, in such bad condition and a safety hazard. "Are these buildings any less hazardous now that they are down?" Kaolian said. "What about people walking over them or scavengers going through the debris? Who's going to pay for the removal of the debris?" None of those questions could be answered by city officials Wednesday. On Tuesday, Carroll said he believed the demolition was accomplished through an arrangement with Stratford. But Stratford Mayor James R. Miron said he knows nothing about the demolition. He said he canvassed his department heads, including his public works director, Wednesday and was told Stratford was not involved. "The first I've even heard about it was when the Connecticut Post called me and told me the buildings were down," Miron said. Meanwhile, the Stratford Town Council in July voted to accept $909,000 in federal stimulus money to demolish approximately 40 abandoned, deteriorating and burned-out cottages on Long Beach West, which adjoins Pleasure Beach. Demolition of the structures, which have been the target of arsonists and vandals, is expected to take place later this year. The removal is expected to clear the way for the sale of Stratford's side of the 35-acre peninsula to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for about $10 million. On the beach 1892: Land turned into an amusement park named Steeplechase Island by two entrepreneurs. 1919: Bridgeport buys the property for $220,000 and renames it Pleasure Beach. 1947: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers makes it a peninsula by connecting it to Stratford. 1960: Pleasure Beach amusement park closes. 1977: Carousel reopens briefly for Barnum Festival's Old-Fashioned Day in the park. early 1990s: Carousel horses restored and moved to Beardsley Zoo.
Officials claim Pleasure Beach demolitions still a a mystery By Michael P. Mayko BRIDGEPORT -- City officials still have no answers about how or who demolished two deteriorating buildings that once housed amusements at Pleasure Beach. "We don't know who did it," Mayor William Finch said Thursday, a day after it was revealed that structures had been razed mysteriously. "Of course, we are concerned that it happened the way it did." Finch said he has asked the Department of Public Facilities and the Building Department to look into the matter. He also asked the facilities department as well as the Economic Development Office to look into the costs of clearing the debris from the beach, which at one time was the site of an amusement park. “In a way I’m kind of glad they are down,” Finch said. “They were probably never built to code. They were carny buildings.” But, he added, “I regret that apparently they weren’t taken down through proper legal methods.”
Really? By Lennie Grimaldi This Pleasure Beach story is getting better every day. Here’s what Mayor Bill Finch told Connecticut Post reporter Mike Mayko about the phantom demolition of the carousel house. “These buildings were a public danger … a safety hazard,” Finch said Thursday. “Kids being kids … we’re just thankful nothing happened.” In the meantime, the mayor urged the public to stay off the beach. “There are multiple hazards there … broken pavement, flotsam, jetsam … It’s a dangerous, dangerous place and we don’t want to see anyone hurt,” he said. “The size and accessibility of it make it impossible to police.” Okay Bill, if it’s such a hazard on Pleasure Beach what the hell have you done about it for the past 21 months? The mayor issued an updated comment Friday afternoon: Statement from Mayor Bill Finch re: Pleasure Beach Buildings “Our Fire Department personnel were concerned that the decades-old buildings on Pleasure Beach posed a significant public safety hazard, especially after one of our deputy chiefs witnessed several kids running from one of the buildings during a routine visit to the island. At the behest of our Fire Department, Burns Construction Co., which was doing some work on the island for the Town of Stratford , used their equipment to push the two buildings over. All involved recognize that the work should have been done with a demolition permit in place. We will take appropriate action to ensure that this situation does not occur again in the future. In the meantime, the Public Facilities department is determining how best to dispose of the rubble left from the buildings on the island.” Another sampling from Mayko’s story. BRIDGEPORT — City officials still have no answers about how or who demolished two deteriorating buildings that once housed amusements at Pleasure Beach. “We don’t know who did it,” Mayor William Finch said Thursday, a day after it was revealed that structures had been razed mysteriously. “Of course, we are concerned that it happened the way it did.” Finch said he has asked the Department of Public Facilities and the Building Department to look into the matter. He also asked the facilities department as well as the Economic Development Office to look into the costs of clearing the debris from the beach, which at one time was the site of an amusement park. “In a way I’m kind of glad they are down,” Finch said. “They were probably never built to code. They were carny buildings.” But, he added, “I regret that apparently they weren’t taken down through proper legal methods.” Charles Brilvitch, a former city historian, countered that the razing of the Pleasure Beach buildings is “just another example of fishy demolitions in a history of fishy Bridgeport demolitions.” He cited a laundry list of examples, including the Topstone Cigar factory, the former railroad station, the Dewhurst Dairy and Tom Thumb house. “I suspect it’s not the last either,” he said. Finch denied that the demolition is part of a yet-unveiled plan to develop Pleasure Beach, where an amusement park was first built in 1892.
Finch: Fire officials had role in Pleasure Beach demolition
Connecticut Post - September 6, 2009
BRIDGEPORT -- Two days after it was discovered that two structures once housing amusements at Pleasure Beach were demolished without the apparent knowledge -- or permission -- of top city officials, Mayor Bill Finch said Friday the structures were "pushed over" free of charge by a construction company hired by Stratford to tear down abandoned cottages on adjoining Long Beach West. Finch, who a day earlier said flatly, "We don't know who did it," said that a deputy fire chief determined about a month ago the abandoned and deteriorating wooden structures that once housed the carousel and the bumper-car ride were in danger of collapsing. In a prepared statement issued Friday, the mayor said that he had learned the city's Fire Department gave Burns Construction Co. the green light to tear down the buildings on the 35-acre beach Finch, contacted later by phone, said the demolition took place several days ago when the contractor's crews were on Bridgeport's side of the barrier beach to reactivate a fire hydrant that would provide the water needed to hose down demolition operations for the Stratford cottages. He said fire officials determined it "may be an opportunity to take care of some of the structures on our side." The mayor added he was told that Burns did not charge the city for the demolition. "That's my understanding. They basically pushed the buildings over. It didn't take much effort," he said. Stratford Mayor James R. Miron could not be reached for comment Friday. Efforts to reach a representative for Burns Construction were not successful. Although Finch said he was in the dark about the last-minute demolition, he said he isn't concerned that the Fire Department had failed to inform him. "I wasn't completely shocked. I was uninformed," he said. The mayor said he is more concerned about the department's decision not to seek a demolition permit for the work. "All involved recognize that the work should have been done with a demolition permit in place. We will take appropriate action to ensure that this situation does not occur again in the future," he said.
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Removal of Pleasure Beach demolition an issue By Michael P. Mayko BRIDGEPORT -- With the question of who knocked down two Pleasure Beach buildings answered, the city must now deal with removing the rubble from the park. But just when that will happen and who will foot the bill is unclear. "The demolition of the buildings has created a far greater safety hazard," Morgan Kaolian, a founding director of Long Island Sound America Inc. told the city's Board of Park Commissioners Tuesday night. "A look at the pile of debris, with its sharp-edged wooden planks and rusty nails has now become a source of danger and liability." While Kaolian chided the board for allowing this to happen and the city for allowing the permitting process to be bypassed, the commissioners took no action to investigate why the Burns Construction Co. was allowed to demolish buildings housing the carousel and the bumper car ride without their knowledge or receiving the proper permits and approvals. Apparently the demolition was done free of charge at the request of fire department officials who deemed the structures, which have been vacant for about 50 years, unsound and dangerous. But Robert Halstead, a member of the Pleasure Beach study committee, who attended Tuesday night's meeting, disputes that finding. Halstead said he visited the carousel building not long before it was torn down and maintains it was structurally sound. Burns was on the island installing a fire hydrant and what Kaolian said is "a half mile of pipe." He said the pipe will carry Bridgeport water to Stratford to be used by that town in wetting down debris when they demolish 40 abandoned, deteriorating and burned-out cottages on their side of the barrier island. Once the demolition is accomplished with $909,000 in federal stimulus money, Stratford will sell their portion of the 35-acre peninsula known as Long Beach west to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for about $10 million. "I'm upset as everyone," Mark Marko, board chairman, said about the demolition following the meeting. "I hate being uninformed ... If a mistake happened let's hope it doesn't happen again." Now the city must deal with the cost of removing the rubble. "Eventually we will have to remove it," said Charles Carroll, the city's director of parks and public facilities. Carroll said he intends to inspect the debris with Peter Paajanen, the head of the Building Department, "as soon as next week." But just when the debris is removed will depend upon money -- how much it will cost and who will pay for it. "We may have it in our budget," said Carroll. If not, he said he would have to go to the City Council for funding. Carroll said the Parks Department spent nearly a week in 2007 clearing brush and debris from Pleasure Beach. As many as eight abandoned vehicles were removed by barge at that time.
New question arises on removal of cottages By Richard Weizel STRATFORD -- A power struggle has emerged between a little-known local commission and a giant federal agency over which has lead authority in overseeing removal of long-vacated cottages, outbuildings and docks on the Long Beach West peninsula. A meeting late last week between Mayor John A. Harkins and Sharon Marino, project leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Southern New England-New York Coastal Program Office, in Charlestown, R.I., did little to resolve the issue. While Marino told Harkins the Wildlife Service believes it is the lead agency and intends to begin demolition and removal of the cottages as soon as next month, the town's Waterfront and Harbor Management Commission has advised the new mayor it has the authority to assume the role of lead agency because of an act by the state Legislature and Town Council in 1957 that established it to oversee all matters concerning the town's waterfront. "Frankly, we aren't certain who is right at the present time," Harkins said, after a one-hour meeting in his Town Hall office last week. "I have directed our legal staff to research the issue and give us their opinion on whether the commission or Wildlife Service is the lead agency." Either way, Harkins said, he strongly favors home rule, and wants the commission to be involved in the process of overseeing the project. "I am in ongoing meetings with both local officials and the federal government regarding the Long Beach West project, and am aware that there is a dispute as to authority,' Harkins said. "I believe that local officials who care deeply about this property are likely to do the best job in ensuring the project's completion. To that end, I have directed the town attorney to review the issue of disputed authority to see if, indeed, local control is possible." But the Fish and Wildlife Service announced last month that it will start the demolition and removal of 37 cottages, 25 outbuildings and four docks in January as the sweeping 34-acre barrier beach is transformed into a nature preserve. The federal agency has settled on two options -- both over land rather than water -- that are considered environmentally sound and cost effective. The agency determined that building a temporary road from the beach to the mainland, or using special ground-pressure trucks over the existing terrain, would be the best way to complete the removal and restoration project. But the Waterfront and Harbor Management Commission has "some very serious concerns" about the project and met recently to outline what it considers vital parameters under which the federal agency must operate, said Bill Rock, commission chairman. "We're not trying to be obstructionists. We just want to protect the interests of Stratford residents and our waterfront and believe we are the lead agency," Rock said. He said the commission isn't sure that $909,000 in federal stimulus funds being used by the federal agency will be enough to get the job done, and there is concern that "the town could be left holding the bag" if the project is only partially completed and damage incurred to the beach area and parking lot are not repaired. Rock said other commission concerns include isolation and removal of hazardous waste; the method of removing the debris; the potential impact on abutting Stratford residents and the town's infrastructure; remediation of Long Beach West, the barrier beach (where a proposed temporary road is to be constructed) and local town facilities. Geoff Steadman, the commission's planning consultant since 1987, said he "supports the panel's assertion" that it has lead authority over the project. The Wildlife Service states in its executive summary on the project that "the proposed action will temporarily impact some state-listed plant species. These impacts will be limited to the short-term, and will ultimately result in an overall enhancement of said resources over time." Under an agreement reached with the nonprofit Trust For Public Land last year after overwhelming approval by voters in a referendum, the Town Council approved a contract to eventually sell the 34-acre peninsula to the TPL for at least $10 million, and then transfer the land over to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
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