New Haven Independent

The committee — which approves conceptual, schematic, and final design for all projects within the $1.5 billion school construction program — considered at its meeting Thursday night the new $41 million replacement for the Roberto Clemente Leadership Academy, on Columbus and Howard in the Hill.

First that news — then the $25.

Gerald Kagan, the designated architect for Clemente project, made his presentation to the mayor and committee. At first planners considered renovating the 1978 building. But the building, particularly its façade, was deemed in such bad shape and so poorly designed, with endless lightless corridors, that demolition and building anew from the ground up was the path chosen

The footprint of the cavernous 140,000 square foot school is to be reduced by half. (The school currently has far too much space, much of it unusable corridors). There is to be a light-filled courtyard or atrium in the middle, lowered and angled roof lines to let in additional light. Plans also include a large gym, or what was called by Kagan a “cafetorium,” that will also be looking out onto green space and double as a meeting space for the community.

All this is to be achieved on what the mayor called challenging a “tight urban site,” along with designated drop-off area for parents and a separate drop off zone for buses so that kids will not have to navigate the congested traffic that currently exists there.

The design, before it reaches this committee, has to benefit input from a wide variety of meetings with the neighbors and the management teams of the area. Kagan, with a nod toward Alderwoman Jackson-Brooks, said that the neighbors were grateful the new building is to be set back from the nearby houses.

“We’re also trying to create a main entrance way that makes a kind of architectural statement at the same time that it’s highly functional, ” Kagan said. He referred to the near universal opinion of the committee that the current structure adds little to the local cityscape. Although the materials of the building are yet to be determined, it will be predominantly of brick, with pilasters of metal.

The new school will have two classes per grade from pre-K to 8 plus three bilingual classes, for a total of 560 students. The downsizing matches the population, school construction chief Sue Weisselberg (pictured below with the mayor) said.

To make way for demolition, the students will move into swing space on Leeder Hill Road in Hamden, beginning next January. Construction is scheduled to begin in May 2008, to be completed in the August 2009.

Although the final bill is expected to be $41 million, the current budget approved by the state is for only $37.8. The city’s approach is to negotiate with the state to fill the gap. Weisselberg announced that last week, for example, at the close of the state’s legislative session, the Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School budget was upped from $58 million to $66 million.

The committee studied the proposal, as did the Board of Education’s newest member, Michael Nast. Although he was not a formal member of this committee, to his credit Nast was auditing in order to learn about the BOE’s processes and procedures. For starters, he said, he was happy he found the right place for the meeting!

Then the mayor said: “So? By approving, we are saying yes to the basic footprint and the envelope and releasing the architects to do detailed designs. Do I have a motion?”

There were a number of brief questions about security (“The building is designed so that two people will be able to patrol the entire place,” said Weisselberg) and energy efficiency (the new Clemente will be sharing a central heating plant with nearby Hill Central). Then the motion passed unanimously.

In other news, three roof replacements were approved due to severely leaking conditions at Helene Grant School, Micro-Society Magnet School and the Cross Annex on Nash Street. These buildings, with the exception of Helene Grant, will not be part of the longer school construction program, the mayor said. Nevertheless, since the buildings are still needed for the next five to ten years and the roofs are patched beyond repair, there is little choice, the mayor explained. And the costs?

Be grateful, homeowner (if you are one) that when you cast your eyes up, it’s a domestic roof you have to replace, and not an entire school’s: Helene Grant’s new roof is estimated to run $858,795; Micro’s is $853,650. Cross Annex’s smaller space gets re-covered for a more modest $256,566. For all three, the committee recommended approval for documents and estimates to be sent to the State Department of Education

The mayor also asked the status of the proposed new Worthington Hooker site on Whitney Avenue. “The case was heard,” Weisselberg reminded him on April 11, “and we’re waiting for a decision.”

The mayor was also asked if he thought the Bayer Laboratories campus in West Haven might be a possible site for the proposed University of New Haven-Science and Engineering Magnet School. “You know, Superintendent Mayo and I were just discussing this today. Reggie reminded me that the Bayer site is set up mostly for the life sciences, so that our high school, focusing on math and engineering, would not be a good match. Plus, of course, it will belong to Yale. No, we’ll stick with something close to the University of New Haven.”

And the $25 bucks from above? Tom Roger was being a nice guy and buying a ticket from Jackson-Brooks for a benefit: the annual Alvis D. Brooker Scholarship Reception, organized by the Board of Alderman Black and Hispanic Caucus. Brooker was an alderman who died awaiting a liver transplant. The reception is at Luce Hall, Yale University, on June 24th at 4 p.m. For tickets and more information, contact Jackson-Brooks at this address.

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