South Norwalk Murals

 Norwalk is a city on the Connecticut shoreline.  

A restaurant along Water Street in South Norwalk has an old, worn mural honoring the kind of sailing ship that once used Norwalk as its home harbor.

Across the street a newer mural celebrates the Sheffield Island Lighthouse.  

Today's post is linked to Monday Murals.

A sailing ship is moored around the corner.  It offers cruises to Sheffield Island, one of several small islands off Norwalk that constitute the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge.

Wilton Congregational Church

In 1726, the Connecticut General Assembly granted 31 inhabitants of Norwalk the right to establish Wilton Parish.  The first meeting house was built on Wolfpit Road. Ten years later, the congregation outgrew that building and built a larger one at the corner of Danbury Road and Sharp Hill.

The sanctuary on Ridgefield Road -- shown above -- was the third meeting house built by the Wilton congregation, in 1790. It is the oldest meeting house in Fairfield County that’s still in use as a church. 

By the front doors, the church proudly displays banners for 1726 and 2026 to celebrate the 300 years the congregation has served Wilton.

Ridgefield Theater Barn

For sixty years, the Ridgefield Theater Barn has been home to live theatrical performances.  It produces comedies, dramas, and musicals with performers cast through open auditions. The cast and crew comprise both amateurs and professionals. 

Two years ago it underwent a $2.7 million renovation and expansion that transformed the Barn into a multi-use performing arts space.  Now, the venue features a Main Stage, a Black Box Theater, a recording studio space, and flexible community areas for holding multiple simultaneous events.

Colorful

 

I always turn my head when I pass this colorful house in Lewisboro, New York, right across the state line from Ridgefield, Connecticut.  It looks even better this year.  I think it has been freshly painted.

Abandoned and Falling Apart

 

Some factories near the center of Georgetown have been closed for decades.  They show how changes in market conditions, along with time, weather and vandals can destroy an abandoned structure.

Georgetown School of the Arts

 

Georgetown School of the Arts is a facility that houses art classes for kids and adults.

Gilbert & Bennett School

The Gilbert and Bennett Manufacturing Company was Georgetown's biggest employer.  G&B supported its employees and in 1915 allocated funds to build a school.  Eventually technology passed G&B by, its support dried up, and the towns responsible for the school all stepped away. 

n 2011, the town of Wilton entered into a five-year lease agreement with the Georgetown Community Association for the aging school building.  The lease wasn't clear about responsibility for maintaining the building or notifying the town if/when the building needed repairs.

A major rainstorm occurred in August 2024.  The G&B school's roof leaked in numerous places.  The town declared the building uninhabitable and ordered the community association to vacate the premises immediately.  An evaluation put the cost of repairs at $3 million, which is a lot for a small town with other important claims on its funds.

So, today the G&B school is empty.  One resident group wants to see it repaired.  Another wants it torn down.  While the debates play out, the aging building just gets older and more deteriorated.