By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — A small town-owned building, near the Westport Library and police headquarters on Jesup Road, may not be noticed by many passersby, but it houses several programs vital to people in need.

Renovation of the property, occupied by programs run by Homes with Hope, got approval from the Architectural Review Board and Historic District Commission on Tuesday for multi-faceted renovations to improve the building’s safety and functions.

The building, at 45 Jesup Road, houses the Gillespie Center, a 15-bed emergency shelter for men, a four-bed shelter for women, a food pantry and several offices and spaces for counselors and volunteers who work there.

The remodeling project will address unsafe conditions that require people to walk outside to get from one part of the building to another, said Elaine Daignault, director of Westport’s Human Services Department. 

The redesigned building also will allow shelter residents to stay in the area where they reside, and keep people coming in for help with food insecurity, case management or other services from having to pass through the shelter to get assistance.

Among the other renovation features are an isolation room with special ventilation to keep sick residents separated from others, and landscaping in front of the building.

The plan also will upgrade energy efficiency with new windows and utility systems.

Details of the plan were presented by architect Joseph Migani, whose firm has designed several shelters and other buildings for nonprofits. 

The renovation plan also calls for reworking the main entrance, and remodeling restrooms and laundry areas to address accessibly issues. 

Four dormers will be added to the building, he said, which will provide space for the food pantry, including installation of a dumb waiter to help move food between upstairs and downstairs.

“This building is so important to Fairfield County and to Westport for those with food insecurity,” Helen McAlinden, executive director of Homes with Hope, told the boards’ meeting. “This improvement plan is really important … Having this facility makes it much safer for everyone.”

The $1 million project is being financed with a Connecticut Department of Housing/Small Cities Community Development Block Grant. The Board of Selectwomen in June certified the grant application to be submitted by Homes with Hope. 

The grant application initially was going to be for $500,000, but when town and federal Department of Housing officials worked on details of the plan, it was decided to double the funding request because of added expenses, Daignault told the selectwomen at the June meeting.

The building was once a municipal garage, according to Migani, and probably was built in the 1940s when “no one paid much attention to code compliance.” He said that the renovations will bring the building up to current code standards.

“This is an amazing project, I support it 100 percent,” said Scott Springer, a member of the Historic District Commission, before a vote was taken.

The Architectural Review Board and Historic District Commission both voted unanimously to recommend the project to the Planning and Zoning Commission for approval.

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist and journalism teacher for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman newspaper for 10 years and currently teaches journalism at Southern Connecticut State University.