At Unused Plot, Beer Garden Grows

Outdoor salsa nights, craft beers, and live music are coming to a long-empty lot in downtown New Haven, thanks to the efforts of a local innovator who is hoping to showcase Black and Brown brewers. 

The lot in question, next to the 360 State St. residential tower at the corner of Orange and Chapel, has now been rechristened CITA Park, an outdoor beer garden and event space.

Officials cut a ribbon Thursday to mark the opening of the park after 14 years of failed efforts to develop the site, and on the heels of a successful trial run at the New Haven Night Market.

The local innovator behind the effort is Jamal Robinson, the founder and president of Change in the Air Foundation (CITA). Robinson is also the director of sales and marketing at New England Brewing Co.

CITA, a nonprofit dedicated to diversifying the craft beer industry, has two initiatives. The first is the CT Brewers Guild African American Brewing Scholarship at Sacred Heart University. 

The second is provide spaces to promote diverse brewers. That’s where CITA park comes in, as it showcases Black and Brown brewers like Rhythm Brewing and scholarship recipient Best Friends Lunch, as well as Gorilla Lemonade for use in cocktails. While the drinks are not exclusively made by Black and Brown business owners, they will ​“always be highlighted.”

Thursday’s ribbon-cutting and press conference took place ahead of the space’s June 1 opening. CITA Park will remain open on weekends until Oct. 31. The hours of operation will be Thursday and Friday 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturdays from 12 p.m. to 11 p.m., and Sundays from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.

“It takes a village,” Robinson said He thanked the city as well as the members of his team, who joined him in wearing CITA shirts and big smiles. ​“All the work you see here has been done by us, hands on. We’re working on a tight nonprofit budget, so we had to do everything ourselves, including the reclaimed AstroTurf that you see before you.”

He laughed, and later he pointed out a shipping container turned walk-in cooler. 

“The whole concept of it being a ​‘park,’ ” he said of space, ​“is that this is a collaboration with a lot of other Black and Brown leaders who are already doing amazing things that need space and need platform and opportunity.” 

“If you are Black and Brown in New Haven, there’s not a lot of space, especially publicly, that feels like it’s built around our culture and for us,” Robinson said. ​“And when you come here, you’ll feel that.”

New Haven Director of Cultural Affairs Adriane Jefferson identified Robinson as an ​“unapologetic visionary” and identified the moment as ​“historic.”

“This is a move to be able to have for us, by us spaces,” Jefferson said. She cited the city’s cultural equity plan, which emphasized ​“the importance of having spaces that represent the community … in a way that it is not policed, in a way where it is not restrictive, and in a way where people actually feel like they belong.” CITA Park was exactly the sort of thing that the city wanted to come to fruition.

Eugene Morton, Jr. is the general manager of the space and spearheading the public programming. (The space will also be available for private events.) Planned events include art exhibits, joint programming with other organizations, salsa nights, and food festivals. There will always be two food vendors, who will span a ​“variety of diasporas.”

There will also be live music, and Morton, who is an artist and in a few bands himself, will be running sound. He’s using his local industry connections and cashing out unpaid favors, and as a result, CITA Park’s programming is already almost entirely booked through October. On the horizon is a sit-down Juneteenth dinner where guests will be wearing their ​“Sunday best.”

The city is supporting the project with a $20,000 competitive grant through the Department of Arts and Culture and Tourism, as well as an additional $15,000, Mayor Justin Elicker said at Tuesday’s press conference. He celebrated the transformation of an ​“eyesore” into a community space. 

“Last week it was pizza, Tuesday it was hamburgers, today it’s beer,” Elicker said to cheers and laughter. ​“Let me be clear, New Haven is hoppy with excitement, and brewing with new energy.”