KENT—Sneaking in just under their extended deadline, the Swift House Task Force has submitted its report on proposed uses for the old building to the selectmen.
The task force had sent out questionnaires to town organizations inquiring about their interest in using the building.
Swift House, one of the oldest structures in the village center, is town owned but has been closed since before Covid because it is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
For much of the past year, town officials have grappled with whether the building should be sold or renovated for modern uses.
This summer, the selectmen authorized First Selectman Marty Lindenmayer to apply for a $500,000 STEAP grant to make the downstairs ADA compliant. That grant has not yet been submitted, but Lindenmayer proposes using the first floor for overflow town hall purposes, such as housing Social Services.
Task Force Chairman Suzanne Charity gathered proposals from seven civic organizations that are interested in having access to the building.
Kent Affordable Housing would like to explore using the second floor for workforce housing, working in concert with the Kent Volunteer Fire Department to create an apartment for a volunteer.
Task force member Ed Matson, who is also a firefighter, said such a use would be “a great idea and a good start,” but predicted it could be one or two years before any funding can be found for that use.
“This is very much in the discussion phase but a good possibility,” said Charity. “She said a long-term lease would include taking care of all management issues.
Both the Democratic and Republican town committees expressed interest in using the building for meetings and events, while the Kent Garden Club, a longtime user of the site, and the Monday Morning Art Group would like access.
Charity suggested these group could be assigned a work room at the rear of the building for their purposes.
Interest was also shown by the Kent Good Times Dispatch, which needs space for its part-time staff and board meetings, as well as by the Kent Historical Society, which has just hired a new director. Charity suggested that the two organizations could share an office on alternate days.
Charity stressed that some of these organizations want immediate access and said she consulted with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington, D.C., and Kent resident John Worthington, building inspector for Litchfield, about interim use of buildings while they are brought into compliance.
She reported that portions of the building could be used for private use (i.e. the KGTD or the historical society) without it being made compliant as long as there are no disabled persons on their staffs. Public gatherings could not be held.
“It’s my understanding that if it is a municipal building and the town has an equivalent space in another building that is ADA compliant, it could be used,” she said. “It could be open for board meetings, and offices, but not for public events.”
She said that, similarly, if Kent Affordable Housing has other apartments that are compliant, not all their apartments must qualify. “It’s a shame for that building to sit idle when space is desperately needed by a couple of organizations,” she said.
The task force members included a sentence in their report asking the Board of Selectmen to review the regulations regarding compliance to see if interim use can be allowed.
Other items in the report covered complimentary use of the building for community gatherings, private use for intimate affairs, security, scheduling and the like.
