Nora Grace-Flood photo
Monkey Joe’s: Destined to be divided into cubicles.
Atterberry-Jones leads a trivia game while summer campers eat lunch.
A plan to expand a youth center and bring a roller rink to Hamden fell apart at the 11th hour when the building owner skated away from the deal.
Melissa Atterberry-Jones, the woman behind a celebrated youth center called “The Village,” had been putting the project together for months, investing $25,000 of her own money in equipment for the future space.
The idea was to renovate “Monkey Joe’s,” an indoor play space that was shut down during the pandemic, based on a verbal deal made back in early June between Atterberry-Jones and Elm City Management’s Anthony Cuomo, the landlord. Cuomo told Atterberry-Jones on July 28 that he had changed his mind.
Acting on advice provided by an architect, Cuomo decided it makes more sense — and would expose him to less potential risk — to seek office-space tenants on the property.
The collapse of the oral deal has raised a question larger than whether or not cubicles or arcades would constitute the most appropriate use of the empty building: What does it take to create and sustain high quality and affordable programming for young people in Hamden?
It Took The Village
Atterberry-Jones leads a trivia game while summer campers eat lunch.
Atterberry-Jones is the founder and owner of The Village, a rapidly expanding non-profit youth center for kids between grades 5 and 12 that opened up last October on Pershing Street in Hamden. As its name suggests, the center is built on the philosophy that children’s wellbeing should be considered a collective concern requiring town-wide investment, care, and support.
Atterberry-Jones said that of the 40 or so kids who go to The Village each day, about “50 percent live in Hamden and 50 percent in New Haven.” Most are part of the foster care system or have difficult home lives.
}A 14-year-old who has been going to The Village for about eight months said that it was the first program she has participated in where she isn’t bullied and has found friends. She used to run away from her foster parents or throw tantrums, she said, because she has difficulty coping with memories of her mother who she is no longer able to live with.
Once she got to The Village, she said, she adopted methods for managing her anger, like drawing imaginary pictures of adventures with her mom, dancing along with Tik Toks, and boxing.
“I’m not gonna waste my day all mad anymore just because my mom doesn’t want me,” she said.
The camper’s foster parents promised her that she could spend one hour a week with Atterberry-Jones outside of The Village as part of a free mentorship program if she does not run away again. The last time she ran, she was discovered on the streets by cops. She told them she was searching for “The Village.”
Community members, youth workers, and local officials often talk about The Village and the incredible work Atterberry-Jones has accomplished. Atterberry-Jones said that she paid $100,000 out of pocket last year — her life savings — to fund the youth center. She said she did so with the understanding that the countless government representatives who attended her grand opening last fall would follow through on their promises to financially contribute to her work.
Monkey (Joe’s) Business
The would-be leftover laser tag room from Monkey Joe’s.
Atterberry-Jones said that she has paid for the development of the center almost entirely on her own. This spring, she determined that in lieu of external monetary support, expanding her work with youth was the only way to shift to a financially sustainable model.
By establishing a for-profit skating rink and amusement space, she figured that she could continue to offer after-school care for elementary through high school students while giving Hamden kids more to do. Though, she said, she will have to move to a sliding-scale payment system this September as she can no longer afford to keep the program running fully free of charge.
Atterberry-Jones last week gave this reporter a tour of the new building she hoped to convert into a roller rink by October 2021. The plan was to construct a skating rink, add an arcade, recreate Monkey Joe’s old laser tag arena, rent out private party rooms, and still have space to house the growing number of kids who currently attend her youth center. That would have meant a fully equipped kitchen, a music recording studio, and ample lounge area.
A few of the arcade games and equipment Atterberry-Jones bought and is storing in Monkey Joe’s.
Atterberry-Jones said that the building manager had given her the keys to begin moving in equipment, like heavy arcade machinery, that she would later install once the official documents were finally signed. For two months, she had been moving forward with the understanding that Cuomo, who also owns the space out of which The Village operates, was on board with her project.
Around July 20, Cuomo told the Independent that he hired an architect to draft a floor plan of Monkey Joe’s. Though Atterberry-Jones’ business proposal had already been approved by Hamden’s Planning and Zoning Commission, Cuomo recalled that the architect had stated that “light office space” would be the most appropriate use of the space and that hosting public events for youth would almost certainly place new liabilities on his shoulders. Because of inconveniently placed pillars throughout the building, Cuomo said, a roller rink wouldn’t work.
Though Cuomo works out of an office located in the same building as Monkey Joe’s, he said that he had not noticed that Atterberry-Jones had moved any materials into the space.
Atterberry-Jones, who is also an insurance agent, countered that any liabilities would be hers to deal with, not Cuomo’s. She spoke to Cuomo on the importance of more youth programming and support systems for kids. Then she inquired: What if she went ahead with the plan, without the roller rink?
Cuomo maintained that there was no way he would reverse his decision. Rather than taking an upfront check from Atterberry-Jones for a year’s worth of rent, he said, he will wait until office-seekers approach him with an offer.
Atterberry-Jones said that she plans to find a lawyer and look into suing Cuomo — while she also looks for new buildings that could potentially house her original vision and bring in direly needed dollars.
Mayor Curt Leng told the Independent that the town has contributed at least $3,500 to the Village’s work. He said that conversations have taken place about finding significant annual support for The Village, though Atterberry-Jones has expressed doubt that the town will follow through on such promises. Leng stated that he plans he to speak with Atterberry-Jones directly by the end of the week to try to “sort things out.”
Leng called Atterberry-Jones “a wonderful member of the community and someone we wanna make sure is valued.”
“It’s all for the kids,” Atterberry-Jones said. “I just wanna do good.”