NEWINGTON - The process of reconstructing plans to renovate the Newington Town Hall building will begin with a tour of the facility and will not end with a proposal involving Mill Pond Park.

       Those were just a couple of things laid out by Mayor Stephen Woods and the new Project Building Committee--a body consisting of five members of the public and a town councilor from each party--at a meeting held last Thursday.

       â€�"I’m not going to put that back on the table,” Woods said of Mill Pond Park. â€�"They made a clear statement on open space.”

       â€�"They” are the 1,600-plus members of the Facebook group Save Mill Pond Park, which mobilized a number of rallies prior to the failed Sept. 9 referendum in an effort to call attention to the issue of open space. Part of the recently disbanded Town Hall Project Building Committee’s proposal was to construct a new Mortensen Community Center on a 1.3-acre parcel in the park.

       In a telephone survey taken in the days following the referendum, more than 38 percent of respondents who said that they voted against the proposed project cited location as the primary reason. More specifically, 12.9 percent of ‘no’ voters said that preserving open space drove their decision.

       There were 5,807 ‘no’ votes to the 1,050 ballots in support of the proposed plan.

       The new committee is welcome to look at all options, but it is more than likely that it will have to work within the scope of the property surrounding the existing building, Woods said.

       â€�"We didn’t restrict it because you might find that magic location, and if you do I’ll be impressed,” he said. â€�"But I think you need to focus on this site.”

       The members of the public serving on the committee are Alan Bongiovanni, Rod Mortenson, Walter Przech, Jr., Jane Murphy and an additional member who has not yet officially been appointed. Councilor David Nagel is the republican member from the Council, while James Maritini will serve from the Democratic side.

       Deputy Mayor Clarke Castelle, who chaired the last committee, wished the group luck during the public comments segment of the meeting.

       â€�"You have no idea how good it feels to be back sitting in the public,” Castelle said. â€�"You have a hard job ahead of you. I think it’s a great group of people and I’m very optimistic.”

       The group’s membership brings experience in architecture, construction, as well as heating and electrical work-ongoing problems with the latter being what prompted the town to consider renovating the Town Hall building.

       One member also has some experience in politics-Mortensen is a former Newington mayor with who has done work in mechanical renovations. He praised members of the recently disbanded building committee.

       â€�"I think the previous committee members deserve gratitude,” Mortensen said. â€�"They got us to where we are now. You might not have agreed, but it was hours and hours of work.”

       Mortenson nominated Bongiovanni, a civil engineer, as the new committee chair.

       The tour of the Town Hall building will take place an hour before the 6:30 p.m. Nov. 20 Committee meeting and is open to members of the public.