NEWINGTON - The members of the new Town Hall Renovation Project Building Committee heard from a couple of facility department heads to start its deliberations on which road to go down on its way to a referendum proposal for the aged structure.

       Parks and Recreation Director Bill DeMaio and Human Services Director Karen Futoma presented at the Committee’s August 3 meeting, each laying out their Department’s space needs.

       DeMaio’s presentation, which outlined a multipurpose double gymnasium as the centerpiece of his envisioned space, came on the same night that Committee member and Town Councilor Jim Marocchini handed out a draft version of tentative design principles including the expansion of the community center to at least 30,000 square feet.

       By DeMaio’s measurements, the Department currently occupies around 18,000 square feet.

       DeMaio told the Committee that an earlier Kaestle Boos space needs analysis had undershot the size of the Mortensen Community Center by about 4,000 square feet.

       At just over 18,000 square feet, the Center would reduce the Department’s overall footprint by around 7,000 square feet if it is downsized to 10,000 square feet, as recommended by Kaestle Boos, DeMaio said.

       DeMaio sees the gymnasium-proposed at a minimum 33,000 square feet, once office space is factored in-doubling as an event space for the performing arts, and recommends the installation of acoustical ceiling tiles for that purpose. He also hopes to add air conditioning, as well as infrastructure for batting cages, and the overhead storage of wrestling mats.

       Even with his Department utilizing all 7 school gymnasiums when the high school teams do not need them, finding enough space to accommodate all of the town’s programs is an issue, DeMaio says.

       He also hopes to add 2,000 square feet to house a preschool program-currently hosted at a local Church of Christ Congregational. The program grosses $100,000 per year, while spending $16,000 to use the church space, according to DeMaio.

       A larger staff, combined with the computerization of the Department, will prompt the need for some additional workspace, DeMaio said. He has three new program coordinators-to reflect and accommodate increased demand-with three staff members currently sharing the Recreation Supervisor’s office.

       He estimates that the Department will need 4 private offices total.

       Futoma’s request-for a minimum of 10,000 square feet in Department space-focuses more with the location of Human Services. -she would like it to be moved to the end of the building for privacy purposes. Couple that with the addition of an outside access point, and they could resolve the issue of confidentiality, she said.

       â€�"So they’re [clients] are not taking a shopping cart through the entire building, which is totally non-confidential and an embarrassment,” Futoma said.

       She also expressed a desire to stay on site for close collaboration with other departments, such as police.

       â€�"We have multiple departments that we work with on a daily basis, and that would have a huge impact,” Futoma said.

       As for food storage, the Department could use a centralized location, she said.

       â€�"Our food storage is in like 17 different places,” Futoma said. â€�"It’s inefficient.”

       Marocchini presented his list of ten design principles toward the end of the meeting. His guidelines for whichever architect is hired for the project include a campus approach that keeps Town Hall, the community center, the library and Police Department on one site, a building size reduction to 45,000 square feet for the purpose of accommodating 80 employees, and a multipurpose auditorium that can double as a Council meeting space when need be.

       â€�"Such a space should be strongly considered in an expanded library where it would be used more frequently and managed more conveniently,” Marocchini’s statement read.