Restless Neighbors Await The New ​“Q”

Jan Simmons said she understands that the process of funding the Dixwell Community ​“Q” House reconstruction is long — but she doesn’t feel ​“optimistic” that it will happen in the near future.

Simmons joined Dixwell neighbors at a meeting at Wexler-Grant School Tuesday night who expressed skepticism that the long-awaited neighborhood community center will become a reality — especially since the city now has to wait until January to request crucial bond money from the state to build it.

Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison called the meeting to explain how the city is preparing for the demolition of the Q House’s current building. She spent the evening reassuring the anxious crowd that the money will come through and that the center would open by 2017 at the latest.

The Q House on Dixwell Avenue served as an anchor for the black community through much of the last century, a home away from home for local kids. The 1924 settlement house closed in 2013 after running out of money. Architects Regina Winters and Kenneth Boroson presented preliminary plans last September for the 54,000 square-foot building, which is expected to house an expanded Stetson Public Library and Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center branch, now located across the street from the site.

The state approved a $1 million grant for the ​“pre-development” of the Q House, which pays for the architect and engineer, after spending $40,000 for a feasibility study two years ago. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is expected to deliver state bonding money to have the center built.

But the state has reached its $2.5 billion bond limit for 2015—meaning New Haven has to wait until Jan. 1, 2016, to request the $14.5 million of remaining money needed from the state Bond Commission for construction.

The design development phase of the project is almost done, said city Engineer Giovanni Zinn (pictured left at top of story). ​“We’re not going to demolish the Q House until there’s a commitment from the state Bond Commission” for the $14.5 million, he said.

In preliminary environmental testings of the site, engineers found some dangerous elements such as asbestos but not in high levels, he said. ​“We dodged that bullet.” Zinn said he did not know whether there were rodents in the current building — a concern neighbors had — but said the demolition plan includes ​“rodent control.”

Neighbors were more interested in hearing about the timeline of the project than the demolition plan.

“We couldn’t get where we are if we didn’t get the first million from the state, and we got that. The commitment is already there,” Morrison said. The state isn’t going to ​“throw a million dollars away,” she said.

A man in a wheelchair — Yancey Horton, better known as ​“Brother Born Freeman” —asked whether the city would ​“redistribute” the $800,000 it has budgeted for the Q House project if it becomes clear that the state money isn’t coming.

The state money is coming, Morrison said. Hypothetically, if the state bailed out, Zinn would have to go to the Board of Alders to petition to reallocate the money, she said.

“I don’t want to still be thinking about the Q House for another 25 years,” Horton said. ​“Shit looks shaky to me.”

“Well it’s not shaky,” Morrison responded. ​“As a community, we’re going to continue kicking this can up the road.”

She urged community members to volunteer to canvass and call state politicians at the beginning of next year, so the state Bond Commission will approve the $14.5 million bond.

After the meeting, Kaseem Johnson said he found people’s comments repetitive. Many of them had been addressed at a recent Board of Alders meeting he attended along with fellow Southern Connecticut State University political science graduate students, he said.

A basketball coach at Hillhouse High School, he said he plans to recruit his students to help canvass the neighborhood to help petition state legislators.

“I think people heard us. People in the community feel like they’ve been lied to so many times,” Morrison said.

She estimated that in the ​“worst possible scenario,” the state would green light the bonds in May, meaning construction would start in July and the center would be ​“up and running” by fall of 2017.