Laura Glesby Photo
Dominiq Oti, left, helps Nylee Williams with her signature.
In careful penmanship, 8‑year-old Nylee Williams signed her name, title, and “company” at the bottom of a page outlining her responsibilities in the planning process for a new community center in Newhallville.
Her “company” is Harris & Tucker School, where she attends an after-school program. Her title is “Jr. Designer,” a designation she earned after months of providing input in an architecture student’s designs for the forthcoming community hub.
Williams joined a dozen other Harris & Tucker students on Friday afternoon in a former laundromat at 324 Shelton Ave. — a space that Harris & Tucker Principal Kim Harris has been working to transform into an intergenerational reading nook and computer lab through her nonprofit, Inspired Communities Inc.
Since October, Dominiq Oti, a third-year Yale architecture student who hails from London, has been teaching elementary-aged students at Harris & Tucker about the architectural design process. He has been hearing back ideas and questions that helped shape his volunteer designs for the new community space. On Friday, Oti and Harris hosted the contract signing ceremony with the kids so that they could codify their contributions to the project and learn about written agreements.
Kim Harris signs her own contract beside Oti.
Harris envisions the former Shelton Avenue laundromat, located a block from Lincoln-Bassett School, as a space where Newhallville community members from all stages of life can gather for job training programs, literacy events, and other educational events.
Harris shows students Nylee and Erin how to unlock the community space.
In his renovation designs, Oti has split the 700-square-foot, one-room space into four “zones” geared toward different purposes.
First, an “entrance zone” will offer a space for guests to “sit and have some respite,” Oti said, in front of a reception desk with storage cubbies.
A series of computer desks along a side wall will provide a “flexible workspace” where Harris plans to host adult education and training programs.
Along the back wall, a reading zone — nicknamed the “nook” — will serve as a quiet space “conducive for learning.” Oti plans to install a circular light fixture above the zone that will double as an acoustical device to buffer sounds of the rest of the room.
Finally, an “activity zone” leads back to the entrance, with a bench attached to the wall.
At the center of the space, Oti plans to repurpose an existing dividing wall into a bookshelf. The shelf will house a community library along with neighborhood “archives,” perhaps including photo albums or other artifacts of Newhallville history.
Dominiq Oti
Oti's designs for the entrance zone, left, and the activity zone, right.
The reading zone, left, and the computer zone, right.
Harris said she hopes to open the community center — or at least part of it — by mid-May. Eventually, she said, she would like to expand to an adjacent vacant storefront.
A local contractor, Eli Fletcher, is donating labor to renovate the space. Inspired Communities Inc. is already renting the former laundromat — “I courted the owner for two years to get that space,” Harris said — and just needs to procure materials, which will likely include plywood. Harris received a federal Community Development Block Grant to help fund the community center, and plans to partner with the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.
The community center will not only be a programming space; as the neighborhood recovers from being among the hardest hit in the city by Covid-19, the space will also be a symbol of Newhallville’s identity, Harris said.
“We want people to envision possibilities when they open the doors, and to know that what may have seemed impossible in Newhallville is now possible,” she said. “When people see beauty in our neighborhood and they know that this is what we deserve, this is what we are worth, it’s a lift up.”
A glimmer of that pride emerged on Friday, after the kids signed their contracts, when Harris led them in a chant they knew by heart: “It’s the Ville. It’s the Ville. It’s called Newhallville. V‑I-L-L‑E, or, V‑I-double-L‑E. It’s where I live; it’s what I love.”
Over the course of three school visits, Oti presented these plans to many of the kids who attended on Friday. He taught them about architecture through a gingerbread house workshop around Christmas-time.
From meeting with the Harris and Tucker students, Oti said, he gained new ideas for the community space. One student asked whether the bathroom would be renovated, prompting Oti to come up with a new design for the bathroom if funding permits. One kid asked about a space where young people could do homework, inspiring an idea to store lap desks in the benches adjacent to the library.
A birds-eye view of the plans.
Friday’s contract ceremony doubled as an educational session about written agreements and a celebration of the students’ ideas.
Harris interrupted the program briefly to testify via Zoom before the state legislature on the importance of childcare funding. The kids, who ranged in age from 5 to 12, gathered on what will soon become a bench to wave to the legislators. Then they turned their attention to the terms of the contract.
“Your contribution on this project has demonstrated the importance of working with curious minds like your as part of the design process,” Oti read aloud. He outlined the kids’ responsibilities: “to be a collaborator and engage in the design process,” “to understand the importance of recreating spaces for the benefit of the people,” to “Enjoy yourself and have fun,” and “to plant SEEDS: Seeds that Enrich and Educate and Delight Students.”
The third responsibility, to have fun, is the most important, Oti said. “Thinking of possibilities as designers, that’s our job.” It’s important to start the architectural process with creativity and experimentation, he said, before turning to constraints like budgets and materials.
Harris zooms into the state legislature testimony, advocating for childcare funding.
“How many of you have signed a contract before?” asked Harris. The kids shook their heads.
“When you do something and you’re proud of it, you want to have a record of it,” Oti explained. As he handed Harris a contract of her own to sign, he elaborated that “Even if we’re good friends, when we’re doing big things, we need to hold each other accountable.”
Harris, who had her own contract to sign, announced that Harris and Tucker volunteer Carlotta Clark would serve as a witness to her signature. She added in a clause to her contract before signing: “Subject to change with notice.”
“These are the best things — a paper trail,” she told the group.
“Is this like a yes or no question, or do you put your name?” asked one of the students.
Harris explained that the kids should sign their names and identify themselves as “Jr. Designers.” She spelled out the word.
“I’m looking at your handwriting,” she told the group.
Eli concentrates on his signature.
The kids began writing out their names, with the help of their teachers and one another. They also dived straight into their contractual obligations, sharing more ideas for the space.
“Ms. Kim, can we make this a clothing store?” asked a student named Kauren, who wore fuzzy fox-patterned pants.
Harris laughed. “Maybe we can turn the other room into a space where kids can bring their entrepreneurial ideas,” she suggested.
“Are we going to get this spot?” Kauren asked a few moments later.
“Yes,” Oti replied. “This spot’s for you.”
Nylee with her signed contract.
Thank you to Kim Harris and Dominiq Oti for creating this space and Eli Fletcher for donating his skills and time, and all the students involved with making this community space happen. This will be an invaluable resource for the community and its young people. Every neighborhood needs a community space for old and young folks to come together and learn and grow in a supportive and enriching learning environment. When I was growing up in the city, we didn’t have much money, but my mother and my aunt always made sure we had lots of books and took my siblings and myself and often our friends to libraries, various cultural experiences events and educational trips around the area. A childhood rich in exposure to books and educational and enrichment experiences makes learning fun and opens windows to worlds outside of one’s own neighborhood.