How Darien should develop its purchase of Great Island rests primarily on the Italian Palazzo mansion and the horse stable with arched ceilings taken from Grand Central Station. Two monumental assets require enormous expenses to refurbish and maintain, expenses that taxpayers will resist shouldering. Our town will have to consider the whole gamut of possibilities from commercial development, for example, the palazzo privately developed into a Relais Chateaux Hotel by a group holding a long-term lease, to a complete teardown of the buildings and cleared into parkland.

Background Material

Beka Sturges Presentation to DMA, October 11, 2023

Darien TV79 Playlist of video tours and committee meetings concerning Great Island.