Donor Pledges $5M Towards Eastern Greenwich Civic Center

GREENWICH, CT — A new Eastern Greenwich Civic Center is getting closer to becoming a reality.

First Selectman Fred Camillo announced this week that the Town of Greenwich has received a $5 million pledge from an anonymous donor in town for the project as part of a public/private partnership.

The identity of the donor will be revealed "shortly" Camillo said.

"We've worked on this for over a year-and-a-half. We're just thrilled to be in a partnership with them. We're grateful for their pride in Greenwich and wanting to improve the facility that's been standing for decades," Camillo said. "It's been an endeavor for the town for as long as I can remember to renovate or rebuild it. We're about to rebuild it, so we're all very excited."

Superintendent of Building Construction & Maintenance Alan Monelli said plans have not been finalized yet, but they're "close". He hopes the project can go out to bid in November. Construction on the $21.5 million project is expected to begin in early 2022.

The project would completely replace the current 31,765 square foot two-story structure at 90 Harding Road in Old Greenwich. For renderings of the project, click here.

According to current plans, the new building, which would be one story and about 35,418 square feet, would be ADA compliant and energy efficient. It would feature a full-sized multi-use gymnasium with roll-out spectator seating; a 8,100 square foot multi-use event space; three 1,000 square foot activity rooms; and a storage room for gym and activity equipment.

There would also be an expanded vending area with a lounge; updated restrooms with separate family restrooms; exterior restrooms to support field activities; administrative office areas; interior waiting areas; and lease space for the Old Greenwich Riverside Community Center.

Playing fields outside would not be part of the construction, Monelli said.

The existing building was built in 1950 as an employee recreation center for Electrolux. The town acquired the building and the 13.22-acre site in 1966.

Greenwich originally began to develop plans for a building rehabilitation in 2000, but in the years that followed, issues with the facility began to crop up which required immediate repairs.

After exploring existing conditions of the concrete structure, other problems were investigated such as space utilization, functionality and accessibility. The lack of thermal insulation and air conditioning throughout the building, as well as a deteriorating subterranean plumbing system, have been problems for years.

The town determined that a complete replacement made more sense.

Camillo said this has been decades in the making.

"I remember playing basketball there in the 1980s and there was talk then [about rebuilding it]," Camillo said.

Camillo felt it was necessary to announce the partnership with the donor now to assure people, especially those on the Representative Town Meeting and Board of Estimate and Taxation, that there's an agreement in place.

Seeking out public/private partnerships was a big cornerstone of Camillo's and Selectperson Lauren Rabin's campaign in 2019.

"We were going to really focus on public/private partnerships. In the last year-and-a-half, almost two years, we've put together several public/private partnerships but this is by far the biggest," Camillo said. "From what I've been told and what we can see from the donations we've had before to the town, this is double the amount of the biggest donation we've ever had. We're very excited and grateful."