The Suffield Observer (https://thesuffieldobserver.com/author/lester-smith/)
As owner and, until now, executive director of the well-regarded facility at 7 Canal Road, Celia Moffie is selling the place to LCB Senior Living, LLC. As this issue of the Observer goes to press, the sale is scheduled to close on August 31.
It was March 2017 when the Town voted to approve $2.8 M in bonding for the purchase of three new fire trucks, replacing others that had become too old to keep safely in service. Rescue 1 was delivered this year in May.
In the Observer’s last report, the contract for the Town Hall Renovation project had been sent to Gilbane, the chosen “Construction Manager at Risk,” but had not yet been signed. The signed contract arrived in mid August, QA&M Architecture had already signed, and initial work had begun, principally in architectural layout and planning for basic systems: mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP).
The plan for moving the town highway garage to South Street and allow apartments on its old Ffyler Place location has hit something of a speed bump, but continues to surge forward. It’s been a complicated administrative process, involving many Town boards and commissions, all of which have shown strong, though not entirely unanimous support.
Finally! On June 29, as First Selectman Melissa Mack had announced earlier in June, Kent Memorial Library opened the doors of its renovated and remediated home on Main Street.
For a week in early August, Suffield was the focus of a substantial party of international tourists. Fr. Mark Jette of Sacred Heart and St. Joseph advised the Observer that he had arranged for a team of young athletes from the town of Wicklow, in County Wicklow, Ireland, to come and visit.
In case you missed it, the week of May 12 was National Nursing Home Week, and our local nursing home, located down by the Connecticut River, decided to take a cruise on the S. S. Suffield House.
When Dan Kehoe moved to North Carolina in 2017, he took his Around Town Singers franchise with him. But the original group of enthusiasts here didn’t want to let the idea go, so they renamed themselves Around Town Two and have continued successfully with many of the same great voices, led by Jenn Jarvis.
After general contractor Gilbane and architect/engineer QA&M had been selected for the Town Hall renovation and expansion project, Town officials and contractor representatives held an hour-long kick-off meeting on May 16. Key members of Gilbane Building and QA&M Architects met with the Permanent Building Commission and Facilities Manager Chris Matejek for a general acquaintanceship and an initial exploration of many aspects of the program.
The Suffield Firemen have seldom selected a race day with more perfect weather than what prevailed on the morning of June 2, when firefighter Sam Ho blew a blast on his air horn and the Paul R. Simison Memorial Annual 5K Road Race began. (Chief Chuck Flynn would have been the starter, but he was a bit lame that day.) A bit more than 17 minutes later, Suffield Academy freshman track team member Jack Lynam, age 15, was the first to cross the finish line, timed electronically at 17:21, for a pace of 5.35 minutes per mile.