Residents of Fair Haven Heights love their neighborhood across the Quinnipiac River from the rest of the city, but they feel under siege from all the construction projects and bridge closings that are hemming them in. Florence Tomassini (pictured), like other neighbors, was not shy about expressing her frustrations at a big neighborhood meeting Thursday night called by Alderman Alex Rhodeen at the Friends Meeting House on East Grand Avenue.
Developer Joel Schiavone (pictured) wants to build a mini-downtown along the river that he emphatically decreed will not be built to accommodate “goddam cars,” but will be scaled to pedestrians and feature businesses that will cater to local residents, as well as 12 condos.
Nobody objected to that. Then the next speaker, Wendy Kravitz (pictured), described her plan to bring in a Friends Center for Children child care facility that borders East Grand Avenue. Several people raised concerns about safety and traffic patterns. One man asked if her group had considered existing space rather than building new on that site. She said no other space in the area was suitable. “Will this be under construction at the same time as the Schiavone development?” someone asked worriedly. No, Kravitz said, because her project is still fund-raising and has other hurdles to jump through first.
On to the building of the new Jepson School on Lexington Avenue. Construction manager Webster “Mike” Grouten, Jr. (pictured) said the project is in the site excavation phase. “We’ve finished blasting —” that’s the great news,” he said. “We’re getting ready to lay the foundation, and the structural steel will go up over the summer.” Neighborhood resident and activist Chris Ozyck asked about environmental contamination on the site. Grouten said they tested and found no PCBs, but there are other toxins under the building that will not be disturbed. He couldn’t explain what they were, and when Ozyck asked whether post-testing would be done to make sure there were no unpleasant surprises before students start using the building, Grouten said there were no plans for that. Murmurs of “That’s a good idea,” rippled through the room. Grouten said he would invite the engineers on the project to a future meeting to address neighbors’ concerns.
Tom Dubno (pictured), representing Gateway Terminal, said the company’s move from the site of the new Jepson School to Quinnipiac Avenue —” within the historic district comprising both sides of the river —” is almost complete, although the company has not yet complied with certain requirements of homes and businesses within the district. It’s in the business of transporting all kinds of commodities, and will be storing equipment and trucks on the site, and a barge is moored on the river in front of their office. Ozyck faulted Gateway for sandblasting at its new site. “Sandblasting is illegal in the state,” he said, “because of concerns about lead dust.”
Rob Smuts (pictured), Mayor John DeStefano’s deputy chief of staff, addressed the various bridge closings in the area. The Grand Avenue bridge was closed a few days this week due to a broken motor and other problems. It’s now open, but one resident who said he drives over it several times a day said, “It’s not even. The bridge is about an inch and a half above the road surface.” Smuts said he’d look into that. The Ferry Street bridge is closed. Smuts described the stages of work required to open it, which is scheduled for completion in 2008. Lots of people laughed ruefully at that. Florence Tomassini didn’t hold back. “We’ve been waiting four years for that bridge. I had to drive two miles out of my way, to get to a place right across the bridge. They have neglected this part of the city.” When Smuts tried to reassure her that wasn’t the case, she shot back, “The mayor gets done what he wants to get done.”
Christine Beagle pushed Smuts on whether the city has an emergency response plan for how to handle unexpected or long drawn-out bridge closings. Unsatisfied with his answer, Tomassini muttered, “He’s not giving any kind of answer,” and Beagle said, “Don’t you think you should have something in place now?” to the mumbled assent of many in the room.
At the end of the meeting, which lasted about three hours, Alderman Rhodeen summed things up: “We’ve got the bridges, the Schiavone development, the I‑95 widening, Jepson School —” all of these are jammed into our little corner of the city. The timeline is that from now until 2011 or 2012 there will be some significant project going on. When we get there it will be well worth it, but in the meantime there will be significant headaches.”
He’s got that right.