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Architect chosen to analyze needed Octagon House restoration work

A Danbury firm has been awarded the bid to conduct an analysis of the Octagon House.  Seventy2 Architects will assess the historic home to see what kind of restoration work is needed on the dilapidated building, now owned by the City.

 

The vacant house, which was in foreclosure, was purchased for $135,000 as a community improvement and neighborhood restoration project. 

 

The blighted property has attracted vandalism and squatting in recent years, and the area has become a magnet for drug dealers and prostitutes. Mayor Mark Boughton estimated the building needs $200,000 to $300,000 worth of work because it's fallen into disrepair. The yard also needs some upkeep, and the parking would have to be reconfigured.

 

Boughton wants to house the Unified Neighborhood Inspection Team and a police substation on the property.  He says the bike patrol and other related officers would likely operate out of the substation.  He wants to convert the upstairs into a community room for residents to use. The backyard would become community garden monitored by a non-profit.

 

Seventy2 Architects work includes the Crown Point apartments in Danbury and the expanded worship space and gathering area of Walnut Hill Church in Bethel.

 

The Spring Street building is one of only a handful of 8-sided houses left in the country and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The house was built in 1852.  It was eventually converted to apartments, and abandoned by its owner in 2008.

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Brian Kilmeade

Local Headlines