That’s what was on the mind of editorial writers of The Crow, New Haven’s African- American community newspaper, on Aug. 27, 1970 — the day the new and improved “Q” House opened up in Dixwell plaza.
For those not up on their New Haven history, the Q House — an anchoring institution of the Dixwell community — had originally opened as an old fashioned settlement house in 1924. In 2012, the building was purchased by the city to avoid foreclosure; Mayor Harp and other local pols ran for office with a commitment to rebuild it for the future. The Crow’s report fuses past and present: when the long-awaited new building opened in 1970, it was viewed as having, potentially, a serious drawback: no basketball courts, and no gym.
For the author, this flaw — “a multi-services building with the exception of a gym which had been one of the landmarks of the old ‘Q’ and the training ground of some of New Haven’s best basketball talent” — wasn’t to be entirely overlooked. It wasn’t a core issue, either: penning their opinion in the hot summer of Black Power’s ascent, the writer continued the article with the opinion: “That the new ‘Q’ House doesn’t have a gym should not be a concern to black folks in this age of black awareness, because there [are] more pressing issues than play for black people to be concerned about!”
It’s an issue that’s still relevant today. When the building was purchased in 2012, the city came up with $40,000 for an initial study, and the state has approved bonding for the first phase of what is being described as a $14 – 15 million 54,0000 structure. Although detailed plans are still inchoate for the program and facilities, and a whole new corporate arrangement is the offing — with operational responsibility shared by the Q House and the Stetson Branch Library across the avenue — it seems that basketball courts will again not be part of the facilities.
To hear more about how the issue is still very much with us, as the third edition of the Q evolves into being, tune in to the episode by clicking on the audio above or finding it in iTunes or any podcast app under “WNHH Community Radio.”
