Weeds have begun to devour the brick facade and crawl along a set of gray double doors at the front of the building. Torn screens and broken glass cut dark, jagged holes in the windows.
But a new plan is taking shape in the city’s government center, aimed at freeing the estate from its seemingly endless limbo.
For Mayor Lauren Garrett, the image comes into focus. The existing structures of the site will be demolished. An arts and culture center replaces the old gymnasium, while a community center occupies the high ground where the main academic building now stands.
Her government brought the idea to the Legislative Council on Monday, and she said funding from the American Rescue Plan Act and state grants could help fund the project.
The concept represents a departure from previous plans for the property, which for years would be developed by Mutual Housing, a non-profit organization tasked with building affordable housing on the city-owned site.
But due in part to ongoing cleanup efforts — the school and surrounding neighborhood were built on land contaminated by an industrial landfill — development stalled, and the 2015 contract between the city and Mutual Housing expired.
In April, after granting several extensions, the Legislative Council chose not to go ahead with the agreement, opening the door to new opportunities for the property.
Keefe Center 2.0
The idea of using the site as the site of a community center has arisen in previous discussions of the middle school’s fate.
Back in 2007, a city-commissioned report suggested that neighbors preferred using the site to build a community center. And Legislative Council Member Justin Farmer, D-5, said he had previously floated the idea of what he called a “Keefe Center 2.0.”
In fact, Mutual Housing attempted to accommodate such requests, offering to build and operate a small community center on the site of the old gym, or to build a larger center with city funding.
However, some council members felt that the plans would not adequately benefit the community. With mutual housing now out of the picture, Garrett has proposed using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act for a “Keefe Center 2.0.”
It would house all of the services currently offered at the Keefe Community Center and would include a library department, a senior center branch and a health center, Garrett said. The city would seek a partner to run health services there, she said.
The administration also intends to move the school district’s central offices from 60 Putnam Ave. to the new “community campus,” Sean Grace, the mayor’s chief of staff, told the council during Monday’s session.
With the sale of the Wintergreen School, the Hamden Collaborative Learning Center also needs a new home. Garrett’s administration has proposed moving the district’s alternative learning program classrooms to the Newhall site.
Such changes would allow the city to own urban assets such as the Keefe Center, 60 Putnam Ave. and repurpose or sell the branch libraries, Grace said during the meeting.
Of the $24 million the city is receiving in ARPA funding, $6 million was spent by the previous government, he said, acknowledging that the price of the new community center could exceed the remaining funds.
But having a variety of services housed there would allow the city to seek additional sources of funding, he said.
art district
The second part of the administration’s proposal is to build an art and culture center in place of the old gymnasium.
“This idea was presented to us just last week and I think it’s amazing,” Garrett said.
The arts center would include a stage for performances, an art gallery, and an art history area where visitors could learn about the neighborhood, according to Garrett. It would also be part of an “arts district”.
“[The center]would be the hub that would then branch into the Farmington Canal where there would be art installations,” Garrett said.
To fund the project, the mayor has asked the city council to allow the city to apply for $7.2 million from Connecticut’s Community Investment Fund, which the city is also seeking to fund the renewal of the Newhall drainage system.
The Council’s Recreation and Culture Committee on Monday approved the arts center’s application, which has yet to go to full Council for approval.
Meanwhile, the administration has asked its state delegation to file a pledge for money to demolish the existing buildings on the middle school’s old campus, Garrett said
Whether the plan will get the momentum it needs to move forward remains to be seen.
Farmer, the council member representing the district where the site is located, said he was enthusiastic about the plan but stressed the need to have discussions with the community before proceeding.
As for the prospect of selling city assets, he said he would oppose any sale, at least until the new services are operational.
But the clock is ticking as far as the use of the ARPA funds is concerned. Hamden needs to spend the money by 2026, Grace told the council, and there needs to be a plan for how to do that by the end of 2024.
“We think the location on the grounds of the old middle school is an ideal place for this (community center), so we encourage you to start the discussion,” Grace said.
meghan.friedmann@hearstmediat.com