The American Cancer Society plans to build a $3.4 million regional center at 38 Richards Ave. in Norwalk to serve Fairfield and Litchfield counties and to strengthen the society's programs and services.

At a press conference Wednesday at the Richards Avenue site, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal; building cabinet chairman Steve Folb of Westport; the Norwalk mayor's director of marketing and business development, Tad Diesel; and Sharon Hizay of Trumbull, a five-year breast cancer survivor, addressed the gathering.

Funds raised for the project have reached $1.9 million thanks to a dedicated building cabinet of area volunteers and ACS staff partners Gayle Alswanger and Wendy Matthews. More than $1 million still needs to be generated to reach the estimated $3.4 million goal.

The Norwalk location was chosen after other sites in area cities, including in Bridgeport, Greenwich, Danbury and Fairfield, were screened. The proposed center will be 13,350 square feet and will be owned, not leased, by the ACS. The ACS' ownership of the building will free up $1.5 million by the year 2015 money that will be effectively distributed for cancer awareness, prevention and treatment programs in the community, according to a release from the society.

"I can't wait until the day comes when we'll be standing in front of the new building," Folb said. He added that the Quality of Life Center present on-site would be the highlight of the new building. In addition, the Richards Avenue

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location will feature support groups, a comprehensive resource room, volunteer training, professional symposiums and better access to ACS programs like Road to Recovery, Folb explained. The building also will feature green technology and geothermal heating and air conditioning, Folb said.

"Richards Avenue will be more than just a site for a building," said Diesel, celebrating his 19th year cancer-free. "It will be a site for hope and for recovery."

Diesel said the center would be vital in early detection, prevention and recovery, as well as serving as an important tool in the fight against cancer.

A matter close to his heart, Diesel appropriately labeled cancer an "insidious disease."

"I am just one of the people the ACS has helped, but there are so many more. They've helped my family and me every step of the way," said Hizay, who has taken part in the ACS programs Road to Recovery and Reach to Recovery. "This center is going to be such a benefit for everybody."

Blumenthal was adamant about the impact the new building would have in Connecticut. He has battled big tobacco companies alongside the ACS in part in effort to curb tobacco-related illness. "This site will mark a comprehensive, multi-faceted strategy for fighting cancer. There will be enormous meaning behind the bricks and mortar that the entire country can emulate. None of us are immune to cancer. It touches all of us. This center recognizes that vital truth," he said.

Ground breaking is slated for spring 2009.

For information, visit www.cancer.org/ctregionalcenter or call 800-889-3340 .

David Hennessey is a staff reporter for the Norwalk Citizen-News, one of the Brooks Community Newspapers.