New Haven received long-awaited news Friday: the state money’s coming through to build a new Dixwell Community “Q” House.
The news came from Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. He announced he has put a request for $14.5 million in bonding to be approved on the agenda for next Friday’s state Bonding Commission meeting. (Approval is usually a formality after that point in the process.) The money would go toward building a new version of the Q House — the beloved settlement house that opened in 1924 and closed in 2003, becoming a symbol for New Haven’s lack of youth opportunities.
With state help, the city and community members have been planning the complex, which will include new homes for the nearby Stetson public library branch and Dixwell’s Cornell Scott Hill Health Center outpost.
Until Friday, some neighbors had grown restless about whether the promised state construction money would ever arrive. (Read about that here.)
“The state law authorizing funds for a new Q House was enacted in 2011; I’m proud to have voted for that law that year and I’m grateful to Governor Malloy for signing it into law at that time,” Mayor Toni Harp stated in a release issued by her office. “Today, I’m delighted to report imminent allocation of these funds to help provide young people in New Haven and local groups with the long sought-after community center we’ve been working toward.”
New Haven State Sens. Martin Looney and Gary Winfield also issued a release hailing the news.
“Building a new Dixwell Q House will bring great strength to this neighborhood,” Looney was quoted as saying. “This community center will soon again be a hub of education, health, and recreation activities for current New Haven families, as it was for previous generations.”
“This funding for the Q House will bring new life to Dixwell and Newhallville,” the release quoted Winfield as saying. “Community centers are incredibly important to helping our kids succeed and stay on track. The new Q will allow children and adults to enjoy a branch of the New Haven Free Public Library and a neighborhood cultural center. This investment into the Q will help to further build our community by creating a space for neighbors to come together.”
“The Board of Alders expresses gratitude to the governor, the bond commission, the Q House building committee and our state delegation led by the State Senate President Martin Looney for their persistent commitment to finding funding for a new Dixwell Community House,” Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker and Majority Leader alphonse Paolillo said in a joint statement. “The success in this effort allows for the renaissance of this pillar of the Dixwell neighborhood and historic institution in our City. We look forward to continue to partner in the rebuilding of the structure and the restoration of the much needed programming for our seniors, jobs for our residents and opportunities for our youth that the Q House will bring and that are priorities of our Board.”
Q House was a private institution that failed to continue to raise the money neccesary to maintain it and run it. Even if the city gets 100% of the budget from the state, the city is essentially creating a new multi million dollar entitlement that taxpayers will have to find annually. This is a blatant quid quo pro from local unions to the neighborhood who voted strong for them in the last election.