The Donnelly Professional Building at 27 Governor Street, which the Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association has agreed to buy, retains the mansard roofline that distinguished its French Empire style in its 19th-Century heyday as the Main Street mansion of former Gov. Phineas Lounsbury. The RVNA plans to take the building down, build a new headquarters, and relocate from offices it now rents in the town’s old high school, visible at right on the hilltop.—Macklin Reid photo
Seeing growth in the health care field as the population ages, the Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association has announced an agreement to purchase property at 27 Governor Street as a site for a new headquarters.
The nursing association, or “RVNA,” plans to put up a new building on the 1.25 acres between the Boys & Girls Club and the shopping center complex that houses Bissell’s, Ridgefield Music, and the temporarily re-located library.
The nursing association’s plan is to knock down the structure there now, the Donnelly Professional Building. The building was originally the former home of Gov. Phineas Lounsbury, and stood on the site of what is today the Community Center before Gov. Lounsbury moved it to make way for a new, grander mansion in 1895.
“As RVNA approaches its 100th anniversary, the American health care system is experiencing great change,” said RVNA President and CEO Theresa Santoro. “The evolution of a national health care model continues to alter the relationship between patients and caregivers.”
The nursing association approached the selectmen in July about expanding its facilities in the town-owned Venus Municipal Building, the old high school. But now the organization expects to remain there only another couple of years while its new facility is being developed.
“After evaluating various space options, we have elected to remain conveniently located in the center of town while adding more space to accommodate our steady growth in patients, staff, clinics, community programs, and services,” Ms. Santoro said.
The nursing association’s mission of delivering health care services to people in their homes will not change, Ms. Santoro said, but the organization does hope to expand its role to do more to maintain the well-being of the entire community.
“Our new location will be accessible and offer room for clinics, caregivers, health programs, and therapy that will provide for the diverse and changing needs of an aging population in Ridgefield,” she said.
“It will ensure that residents of our community will have a place that serves their health care needs for years to come.”
First Selectman Rudy Marconi said Tuesday evening, after the RVNA’s announcement, that he thought the move would be good for the organization and the town center.
“It’s a wonderful location. I think it’s an ideal location for the RVNA,” Mr. Marconi said.
“I’m sure they’ll continue with their great success serving not only the people of Ridgefield but a much larger area outside of Ridgefield.”
Development of a new headquarters is expected to take one and a half to two years, Ms. Santoro estimated.
The organization is dropping plans for a $5-million expansion of its current offices in the old high school, which had involved both enlarging and renovating the south end of the building and taking over space from other tenants.
“With this wonderful opportunity before us, we will not need to expand in our current location at 90 East Ridge. We will, however, need to stay there until we are ready to move to the new location, and we are already discussing an extension to our current lease with the town,” Ms. Santoro said.
“We’re pleased that we can remain right in the heart of town as we have been situated along with other first responders to best accommodate the town’s needs.”
An extension of the lease would give the town some time to come up with new tenants.
“We’ll have about 7,000 to 8,000 square feet to fill. I don’t anticipate it being too much of a problem,” Mr. Marconi said.
“In a way, it will allow the current lessees in the building an opportunity to breathe a sigh of relief; they will not be confronted with a need to relocate.”
Mr. Marconi sounded supportive of the nursing association’s plans.
“They’re doing a wonderful job, and I wish them all the success in the world,” he said. “It’s a good move for them.”
Town Historian Kay Ables of the Ridgefield Historical Society said she expected that people interested in local history and architectural preservation would be concerned about the loss of the Donnelly building, which has a distinguished background as the one-time Lounsbury home.
The house as it appeared in 1878 not long after Gov. Lounsbury built it on Main Street. The Community Center now stands in that site.
But while the building still shows traces of its French Empire style and mansard roofline, she felt it had been renovated so much over the years that its architectural and aesthetic value was diminished.
“Everything has been changed about that building,” she said. “The only thing that is authentic about the house is the roofline.
“If they tear it down, a piece of history, it’s gone,” she said. “But it’s so different. It’s not the same building it was on Main Street. It’s not the house it was that was moved to Governor Street.
“I’m going to watch it very carefully. I kind of hate to see the place torn down, but they’re not tearing down the old house, they’re tearing down something very different.”
Ms. Santoro said the relocation is envisioned as preparing the 100-year-old organization for growth.
“We currently have 104 employees, three-quarters of which are professional caregivers that include nurses; physical, occupational and speech therapists; social workers; and certified nursing assistants,” she said.
“We strive to balance excellence in care and best use of resources. As the demand for services grows, we will grow our staff proportionately to meet the needs of the patients we serve.
“Our service area and population will be the same as it is today. Our new location will allow us to expand our community health and wellness programs and services to the Ridgefield and Redding areas. These services are often free or reduced-fee services meeting our community service mission, such as flu clinics, well-child clinics, health fairs, emergency response assistance, and educational programs.
“We also provide ‘fee for service’ programs to a wider set of communities. These services are typically medical or personal care services provided in the client’s home.
“RVNA will continue to provide both types of services to as many as possible in the respective service areas,” she said.
“The new facility will provide community health and wellness program expansion, which may add some more medical personnel. In doing so, we will create wonderful jobs right here in town, as we have already done in recent years.”