04/07/08 - Letters To The Editor About The Art Center Vs. The Senior Center

Letters from Readers

Senior Center is best left at it's current location To the editor: I'd like to speak up loud and clear for leaving the Senior Center right where it is. It is perfectly situated to serve the senior population of Greenwich. Seniors are a precious group who should be respected and provided with every service the town can well provide. Shifting them around is detrimental to their well-being and numbered happy years ahead. The Senior Center is a great place to congregate for programs well-suited to provide mental and physical stimulation, and also for healthy meals... ...Let's not tamper with what has proved to be a successful, well-run benefit for our senior population. They certainly deserve to be rewarded for their contributions to society and to Greenwich. Cheer them on. Change is not called for here. Let it be. Tina Dennis Greenwich Full Letter Here Proposed site for arts center would be costly to town To the editor: Is it possible that the Greenwich Center for the Arts is the force behind the renewed push for traffic lights on Greenwich Avenue? When this plan was originally presented to the Representative Town Meeting, it was turned down. The residents of central Greenwich (District 1, which I represent) did not want this for several reasons, among them not taking away the charm of the Avenue with an expense that is not needed. With the movie theater now closed, there are not many people on the Avenue after dinner hours. People traffic would occur when the arts center opened, and with a 400-seat auditorium, there would be an overabundance of people on the Avenue at one time after a performance.... ...Why cannot the arts center share the use of a new auditorium at Greenwich High School? Or find something not necessarily on the Avenue? An arts center on the Avenue would create many more problems and expenses. Not all residents in central Greenwich want an arts center on Greenwich Avenue. I feel certain an arts center can be successful anywhere. It's not where it is, it's how good it is. Mary G. Pellegrino Greenwich Full Letter Here

03/20/08 - "I just feel it's an important issue to bring forward again," First Selectman Peter Tesei said

Mary Ann Morrison, the CEO and president of the Greenwich Chamber of Commerce, said the proposal was a reasonable compromise.

.... "Mr. Tesei still sees the value and importance of keeping the police officers at the three major intersections on Greenwich Avenue, and let's hope it stays that way."

Ave. traffic light plan revised

By Neil Vigdor
Greenwich Time - Staff Writer

After getting the red light from the Representative Town Meeting last year, a proposal to install traffic signals on Greenwich Avenue is back, this time with some changes.

The lights would be installed on Greenwich Avenue at Havemeyer Place, Elm and Lewis streets, and would sit atop antique-style lampposts similar to the existing streetlamps. Police officers would still direct traffic during the day, and the traffic lights would be used at night and on Sundays....

... "I don't want to lose Greenwich, what little is left of the old town," said Joan Caldwell, a lifelong resident who is moderator pro tempore of the RTM.

Caldwell said traffic lights would ruin the town's main street, "making Greenwich look like downtown White Plains."

"It is actually likely to make the town look more citified," Caldwell said.

Her colleague, Mary Pellegrino, a District 1/South Center RTM member who represents the downtown, was more direct. "I think that's rotten," Pellegrino said. "Come on, let's be practical. We're getting out of hand in this town."....

... Police Chief David Ridberg, who has long argued that having police officers direct traffic is not the best use of manpower and hurts morale....

... Selectman Peter Crumbine downplayed the change the lights might bring. "They should blend in all right," he said.

Tesei stressed that he has no intention of replacing the police officers altogether, but acknowledged he probably doesn't have much pull in the matter.

"It most likely will probably get voted down," Tesei said. "But I think it's important to have the conversation."

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