Fairfield Hills is located in Newtown, CT on Wasserman Way, the connecting road between Rt. 25 and Rt. 34. Fairfield Hills was a State Psychiatric Hospital in operation from the 1930's up into the 1990's. It is an imposing facility with many buildings that are now vacant and in disrepair. Fairfield Hills has a lot of history - check out this website for history on Fairfield Hills.
When we first moved to Newtown in 2000, Fairfield Hills was always a big topic in The Newtown Bee, our local newspaper (search the on-line archives for loads of Fairfield Hills news stories). The Town of Newtown was in negotiation to purchase this facility from the State of Connecticut as the town felt they could keep better control over its future development. Finally, in 2001, Newtown purchased the facility for $3.9 million. The purchase of Fairfield Hills and subsequent discussions over the future land use have been the source of conflict in town.
The Town of Newtown has developed a Master Plan for the Fairfield Hills complex. The Fairfield Hills Authority meets the Third Wednesday of each month in the meeting room at Town Hall South, Three Main Street, at 7:30 pm. All meetings are open to the public.
Now that we've given a little background on Fairfield Hills, we would like to tell you about the recent changes that have happened there.
- Newtown Youth Academy (NYA)- a new non-profit, community-centered organization dedicated to the health, fitness and general well-being of all Newtown-area residents-and its young people in particular. The NYA is headquartered in a new 86,000-square-foot, multi-use indoor sports complex.
- Proposed Skate Park- Newtown Park and Recreation is hoping to secure $50,000 this year to construct a skate park at the Fairfield Hills complex. It would be located near the ball field on Mile Hill Road South. Town meeting is scheduled for 1/21/09.
- The trails at Fairfield Hills have been blacktopped making it easier for joggers, bikers and walkers to use them. Many people walk their dogs on these trails. No cars are allowed.
There is a lot of history at Fairfield Hills and it is a complex whose purpose is changing. It's great to see this change happening as the old State Psychiatric Hospital was sitting there just wasting away.
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