Fill Pile: Penfield Pavilion Repair, Remediation Could Cost $13M

FAIRFIELD, CT — As Fairfield continues to dig out from under the fill pile controversy, the town could be looking at $13 million or more just to fix the situation with the Penfield Pavilion, which sits atop contaminated fill, according to officials.

The $13 million figure is an estimate based on leaving the twice-built pavilion in place, removing the fix and repairing the building's foundation. Removing the fill could cost $4 million to $5 million, and the new foundation work could cost about $8 million.

But if the town were to decide to tear down the structure and build a new one, after the $4 million to $5 million to remove the fill, the cost for a new building could be $9 million to $12 million, according to estimates.

A new Penfield Pavilion would be the third time the facility will have been built, and that would be on top of the $12.3 million the town has spent building it, and then rebuilding it, the second time.

The options were presented to the town's Board of Selectpersons, Representative Town Meeting and Board of Finance on Wednesday during a joint, virtual meeting of the three legislative groups.

Officials were given a presentation that updated the officials on remediation efforts and next steps.

So far, two-thirds of the "Julian Fill" sites have been remediated at a cost of about $3 million, and remediating the final one-third of Julian Fill sites will also cost about $3 million, according to officials. The Julian sites refer to those where fill was provided by Julian Enterprises, which contained contaminants that now must be remediated.

Though decisions have not been reached about what to do about Penfield Pavilion, First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick said she favors leaving the building intact while fill is removed and the foundation is repaired.

"Repairing the foundation and remediating at the same time would save us time and money," Kupchick said.

To view the presentation, click here.