By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — Neighbors, architects, the property’s owner and members of the Architectural Review Board appear to agree the structure housing a nursing home at 1 Burr Road is ugly and in serious need of updating and repair. 

But opinions differ on exactly how to do that.

On Tuesday, a plan to expand the square footage of the building, but reduce the number of patients residing there, met with some disbelief from Architectural Review Board members who said the economics of the proposal make no sense. 

Others weren’t sure that mimicking the architectural style of neighboring King’s Highway Elementary School is a good idea, either. 

Nevertheless, board members unanimously recommended approval of the basic concept for the project, but only with the condition that they have another review of the project details later in the zoning approval process. The Architectural Review Board acts as an advisory board to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Financial questions raised

“It’s muddy to me,” board member Vesna Herman said of the plan to make expensive repairs and upgrades to the building while decreasing the number of paying residents in the facility. 

ARB Chairman Ward French agreed. “I have a level of skepticism” about the finances of the proposed project, he said.

But Rick Redniss, of Redniss & Mead, a Stamford land-use firm, said that changing the facility from a nursing home to a memory-care facility with private paying clients instead of state-reimbursed patients, would be more economically viable. 

Changes in design, mission envisioned

The building owners would like to end the lease of the current tenant, the Westport Rehabilitation Complex, formerly known as Mediplex, he said. The facility would then be remodeled inside and outside, with its purpose changed.

“We want to improve the physical plant to attract a different clientele,” Redniss said. He called the proposed plan “a last-ditch effort” to improve the site. “The neighbors of this property are very, very unhappy” with the current condition of the building, he said.

The proposal calls for two third-floor additions that would connect the separate wings of the existing structure, and the number of beds in the facility would be reduced from the current 120 beds to 68. 

The building exterior would be “skinned” with brick in a style similar to King’s Highway Elementary School across the street, and a mansard roof added to hide mechanical equipment. The parking lot and landscaping would also be reorganized.

“I’m not sure the architecture as planned is the correct direction to take,” commented ARB member John Halper. “The project itself has a lot of merit,” he said, but using the same “brick Georgian architecture as across the street [at King’s Highway Elementary School] may not be the best choice.” 

The Westport Planning and Zoning Commission has been presented with several plans to upgrade the building, and the plan Redniss presented to the ARB on Tuesday was the fourth plan to expand and upgrade the building, which was built in the 1960s. 

A “pre-application review” of the plan on April 4 met with a favorable response from the P&Z.  

The developer’s next step would be to file a formal application for the project.

People’s signs changing to M&T

The Architectural Review Board on Tuesday also approved new signs for two local bank properties at 371 Post Road East and 351 Post Road West. 

Both are among the 160 locations throughout Connecticut changing in a takeover of People’s United Bank by M&T Bank, explained Tracy Barker of Sign Pro, the applicant for the sign change. 

After Baker said the illuminated signs would include a dimmer to limit the spread of light, the board voted unanimously to approve the new signs.

Gretchen Webster is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to Westport Journal. Learn more about us here.