Allan Appel Photo
New Haven is getting $1 million to plan the rebirth of the Dixwell Community “Q” House — and, along with it, a neighborhood’s dreams.
Mayor Toni Harp and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy made that announcement Tuesday afternoon at a festive event on the Daniel Y. Stewart Plaza outside the shuttered Q on Dixwell Avenue. They announced that the State Bond Commission has approved spending $1 million on planning and design work for the demolition of the existing building and the erection of next Q House on the site.
A dozen alders joined Harp and Malloy at the event along with community leaders who kept alive the beacon of a rebuilt “Q,” the legendary 1924 settlement house that closed a decade ago when it ran out of money.
The city purchased the Q’s most recent building in 2012 to avoid foreclosure. The monumental Brutalist-style mid-20th century building has become a rallying point and symbol for New Haveners concerned about the decline of neighborhood community centers. In its heyday the Q served as an African-American community anchor, where local kids learned gymnastics and tennis, got help with school work, and were mentored by caring adults.
Tuesday’s announcement gave hope that all that might return once again in the heart of the neighborhood.
That torch has been carried aloft by Jacqueline Bracey, the chairwoman of the Concerned Citizens for the Greater New Haven Dixwell Community Q House. (She is pictured at the top of the story at Tuesday’s event with with Board of Alders President Jorge Perez.)
She came to the plaza bearing a smile as well as a shopping bag full of Q House T‑shirts that the committee have sold to raise money.
She gave one of the T‑shirts to Governor Malloy; he was delighted, although he said it was a little large. In brief remarks Malloy put his support of the Q House in the context of his belief that “there must be organizations outside of schools to help young people to succeed.”
Mayor Harp said the community has “been in mourning” for the Q House.
“Today these walls hold a glimmer of hope for the day when a bustling Q House will [once again] serve this area,” said Harp, who had made reviving the Q House a plank in her election campaign last fall.
The state’s $1 million in “pre-development” will pay for an architect and engineer to flesh out the details of concepts that emerged from a $40,000 feasibility study, which the state also funded last year. (Click here for a story about that effort.) The effort was led by Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison and local architect Regina Winters. The study came to the conclusion that due to damage from neglect and environmental challenges within, it would be more cost-effective to raze the current Brutalist building, built by Herb Newman and Ed Cherry in 1969, and construct a new structure based on current community needs.
That study proposed that the new building house not only a Q House community center but also an expanded Stetson Branch Library. The library has for the past ten years picked up some of the Q House’s role as a community center, especially for young people.
Combining the two functions will give the building additional streams of revenue to tap into and address a big concern about a new Q project — how to keep it going year to year. A lack of operational “sustainability” helped lead to the Q’s demise in 2003.
The new state money comes with an added element to the play: the new facility will also include a new home for the Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center Dixwell branch, currently located across the street.
The more community institutions involved in the plan, the better, argued Malloy. “The library and health center make a lot sense. I can [also] imagine some workforce uses. If you program [right], you can use this [future] building 18 hours a day. When you make that kind of investment it makes sense.”
Ultimately the plan calls for a $14-$15 million new 54,000 square-foot building. Demolition and rebuilding would cost $12 million, with another $2 to $3 million for furniture and fixtures, said Bill MacMullen, the city’s chief architect for capital projects, who will oversee whoever ends up building it.
Board of Alders President Perez said nothing has been decided “in stone.” He characterized the $1 million as funding that “buys the shoes before you start running.” The running — who the tenants will be, whether the structure might house one gym or two, a pool, how many computers — remains to be fleshed out.
There was no shortage of applause and optimism Tuesday. New Haven state Sen. Martin Looney characterized the Q House as a beacon of hope that has nurtured dreams for years. “This is a first step, to be followed by construction funding. The Q Hosue will rise and shine again,” he said.
Next step: Forming a committee that will select the architect/engineer team.
Ed Cherry, the designer of the building (pictured with Dixwell Alder Morrison) to come down, said he’s throwing his hat in the ring. He doesn’t want to serve on the committee. He wants to be selected by them as the architect to build it again, he said.