Arts center turning into re­construction project Have you seen the Banfield building which is on Church Street in Middletown? They have taken the roof off, the walls are exposed, and it looks like the building is being dismantled. In 1997, when Middletown purchased the Banfield building, it was implied this building was quite substantial, and could be easily used as a cultural arts center. We were led to believe that in its existing state, it had all the attributes of a cultural arts center and could be used for performing arts. At its worst, many of us thought this would be a handyman’s special, but we can now see this is a major reconstruction project. It can also now be observed this old structure has some real problems. The materials used in the contraction of this building are no longer permitted under today’s building codes. For example, the walls are constructed from hollow tile blocks and cinder blocks. The existing walls are not very substantial, and they appear to have been poorly constructed. There is no indication that pillars were built into the walls; these provide the support necessary to hold up the walls and girders that are used for the roof. It is obvious poor judgment was used when this old building was purchased. It would have been better if this project had started with a new building. Bill Stevenson Middletown