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Not all damage from the Nor'easter that hit Norwalk earlier this month can be easily estimated. When Parks and Recreation Department workers moved a fallen evergreen tree from the gatehouse at Mathews Park, the extensive damage to the historic building became visible. This repair job is especially complicated because the gatehouse is part of Lockwood Mathews Mansion, a registered as a National Historic Landmark.
The gatehouse had been leased to the Connecticut Culture and Tourism's Visitors Bureau. However, due to recent cutbacks at the State level, the building is currently unoccupied. This delayed, somewhat, the assessment of the damage.
"We couldn't see undernearth the tree branches," explained David Park, Chair of the Norwalk Historic Commission. "Once they moved the tree the damage turned out to be more than what we expected."
Originally, it was thought that the damage could be repaired out of the Norwalk Historic Commission operating budget, but now Park says they will have to reassess the cost. The repair needs to conform to historic restoration standards.
In addition to the building damage, trees have knocked over headstones at the historic Pine Island Cemetery. Tom Hamilton, Finance Director for the City of Norwalk, asked for all department heads to submit storm damage estimates to the City as soon as possible. Soo Gunn is compiling the damage from all the City historic properties.
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