Melissa Bailey Photo
The former Hollow Bowling Center may soon bustle with young scientists, as the city moves forward with a plan to buy West Haven land for its high-performing math and science school.
The Engineering & Science University Magnet School, dubbed ESUMS, was first dreamed up in 2005 as a joint effort among New Haven, West Haven and the University of New Haven to build the state’s first science-oriented public high school. The vision was for the school to be nested on UNH’s campus in West Haven.
The quest for a permanent site has proved difficult; the school has been bouncing around between swing spaces ever since its inception three years ago. Students are now split up into two different buildings as the city tries to secure a suitable spot near the UNH campus.
After years of bureaucratic delays, the New Haven Board of Education last week approved a series of leases on abandoned industrial West Haven land that it hopes will become ESUMS’ permanent home.
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The sign on the former bowling alley has since been removed.
The board approved leases on four properties, including the long abandoned Hollow Bowling Center (pictured), which was built in 1952. The leases include the option to buy the properties, which add up to a nearly three-acre lot not far from the university campus.
If the site works out, it would end a years-long search. The city already got approval in June of 2008 for state funding for a $66.5 million ESUMS building serving grades 6 to 12. The school currently serves 240 students in grades 6 to 9; it is intended eventually to serve 616 students from New Haven, West Haven and other towns.
The new site (which lies in the region highlighted on the map) includes the bowling alley at 691 Orange Ave. (on the Boston Post Road), a single-family home at 89 Newbern St., and adjacent vacant lots at 703 Orange Ave. and 14 Ogden St.
89 Newbern St. is owned by Rock Tabernacle Ministries.
The properties are owned by three landlords: Rock Tabernacle Ministries, Gannett Outdoor Co. of CT and Rachel Real Estate, LLC.
Under the terms of the leases, the district will pay to hold down the properties from Oct. 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012 while it seeks various approvals to make the project happen. The leases will cost a total of $40,963.40 during that period, paid for through ESUMS’ capital account.
All the buildings, including Hollow Bowling, would be razed to make way for the school, Clark said.
Will Clark, the schools’ chief operating officer, said the district settled on these properties as a second choice. Its preferred site, a cluster of university properties and homes on the western edge of campus, proved difficult when some homeowners refused to sell, Clark said. That meant West Haven would have had to seize the properties through eminent domain.
The first site was more preferable because of its proximity to the UNH campus. Clark said New Haven is still open to using that first site, but has moved ahead with plans to secure a second one.
The second site is farther away, in an industrial part of Route 1 next to a car shop. On the upside, it is served by a shuttle to campus and involves “no taking of peoples’ homes,” Clark said.
The leases include an option to buy — and an option to walk away from the properties if need be.
“If it doesn’t work out, we’re not left holding the bag,” Clark said.
Weeds sprout from the former bowling gutters.
Now that New Haven has secured the rights to the land, it can proceed through the process of gathering various government approvals.
The project needs the blessing of its main funder, the State of Connecticut, which pledged to pay 95 percent of project costs. The state approved the overall project but still needs to OK the site.
While the city seeks approval from the state, it will launch a campaign for local approval from the town of West Haven. A city-hired architect, Svigals + Partners, will be working on a site plan design to submit to the West Haven zoning board in January 2012.
Simultaneously, the district will be asking approval from the New Haven Board of Aldermen for a rare cross-border land purchase.
A meadow takes over the bowling lanes.
If these approvals fall into place, then the district will move ahead and buy the land. In that case, the cost of the leases will be deductible from the purchase price of the land, according to a memo from Bob Lynn, director of the city’s school construction program.
The city aims to secure zoning approvals over the winter and spring, “begin the clearing of the site” over the summer, then launch a brisk two years of construction, Clark said.
As the plans unfold for a permanent site, the school has been growing, adding one grade level each year and outgrowing various swing spaces. The school now serves grades 6 to 9.
A gravel pile marks the lot the city wants to buy, next to the bowling alley.
Clark said the goal is for the pioneering ESUMS class — those who started the school when it was just a 6th grade, and are now freshmen — to begin their senior year in a brand new building, and graduate from that new spot, near the UNH campus.
Clark said he’s pleased to have settled on a site for the school.
“It’s extremely exciting when you think about the curricular potential” of being close to the university, he said. The district envisions students commenting to UNH campus for classes, and professors visiting the school.
“While it’s certainly taking longer than anyone would like, ” Clark said, the process has called for greater collaboration between West Haven, UNH and New Haven. “Having it start to come to fruition, it’s something all of those parties can be proud of.”
Past stories on ESUMS:
• After Parents Fight Move, ESUMS Stays Put
• Parents Oppose School’s Move
• Science Magnet School Relocates Again
• City Looks West For New School Site
• After Layoffs, Schools Reshuffle
• A Rush To Dig
• A New Star School; Warnings About Others
• Science High’s Ready, With An Arabic Twist
This was actually the Sleepy Hollow bowling center. The word 'sleepy' must have fallen off or was stolen. Last known owner, Richard Stiller.