RTM Approves State Archaeological Preserve

The West Parish Meeting House Historic Property is a place some call a living museum.

Beneath the grassy field and nearby wetlands could lie a host of artifacts dating to times of the American Indians, Westport's settlement and the Revolutionary War.

After lengthy discussion on the value of the property and its historic significance, the Representative Town Meeting voted Tuesday to designate the land as a State Archaeological Preserve. 

That decision is in concert with a vote the town's legislative body made 20 years ago to designate the property as a local historic landmark.

The new designation as an archaeological preserve allows the state to prosecute any unauthorized excavation and makes Westport eligible for state and federal grants for preservation and educational purposes.

The RTM voted 30-2  in favor of the designation with two members abstaining. Linda Bruce, District 2, and Joyce Colburn, District 6, opposed. District 5 members Richard Lowenstein and John Suggs abstained. Some who opposed and abstained wanted more information on the designation. Lowenstein wanted to look into the possibility of subdividing the property to create a smaller archaeological preserve. He moved to postpone the issue to the next RTM session - a motion that failed. Suggs, a strong supporter of the designation, abstained to avoid the appearance of a potential conflict of interest because his property abuts the site. He also served on the First Selectman's Greens Farms (West Parish) Colonial Church Historic Property Special Committee.

At the meeting, many residents and other RTM members spoke in favor of the designation.

"It always struck me living here that there isn't much evidence overtly of our history and I think that's too bad, said Westporter Jonathan Kantor. "If ... we can get funding for educational materials to make our town more aware of our history, I think it's a wonderful thing and adds to our richness, especially for our school kids."

Allen Raymond, the town's municipal historian who came to Westport in 1923 at six months old, said the meeting house site is "the most religiously historic location" in all of town.

The building, built in 1711, served both as a church and as a town hall.

"I just wanted to let you know as the Westport Town Historian and a lover of Westport, when people would ask me what I wanted to do when I grew up, I'd say, 'Live in Westport'," Raymond said. "I'm about ready to pack it in but I'm not going to pack it in until this has passed."

Jonathan Steinberg of District 8 said he hopes "Mr. Raymond rescinds that statement" because it would be the only reason he wouldn't want to approve the matter.

"The useful land is potentially an archaeological site we could learn more about and the rest is wetlands and those might even be archaeolgically interesting," Steinberg said. "We are sacrificing very little in obtaining this archaeological designation and we are gaining the ability to access resources and funding grants that allow us to excavate the property. I think this is  tremendous opportunity to find an appropriate way to take advantage of this land. It's a historic asset to this town."

In other action, the RTM:

• Approved renaming the historic property from Greens Farms (West Parish) Colonial Church Historic Property to the West Parish Meeting House Historic Property
• Approved $2.3 million to complete construction of sewer extensions in the area of Imperial Avenue.
• Approved six air quality improvement projects amounting to nearly $3.8 million at the following public schools: Kings Highway School, Coleytown Elementary School, Coleytown Middle School, Saugatuck Elementary School and Long Lots School.