Laura Glesby Photo
Management Team Chair Kim Harris gives out prizes at last year’s Newhallville holiday party.
Newhallville neighbors are looking to spend $10,000 in public dollars on spotlighting “a sense of who we are,” said management team Chair Kim Harris: By installing signs that point the way to community landmarks and delve into the neighborhood’s history.
Harris announced this project at last week’s Newhallville Community Management Team meeting, which took place via telephone conference.
The signs would be supported by the city’s Neighborhood Public Improvement Project (NPIP), through which the Livable City Initiative (LCI) allocates $10,000 each year to every management team in the city for projects determined by neighborhood community members.
In Newhallville, some of that pool of money has already been spent on a holiday party last year as well as a youth “ambassadors” employment program for neighborhood teens during the summer of 2019. According to LCI neighborhood specialist Linda Davis-Cannon, $3,700 went toward last year’s holiday party. She said she did not have a figure for the amount that was spent on the ambassador program.
Harris posited that NPIP money could be used to purchase signs pointing the way to prominent neighborhood buildings and parks, like Lincoln Bassett School, the Winchester Arms factory, or the Learning Corridor along the Farmington Canal Trail. They could also spotlight the neighborhood’s rich history, she said.
“For instance, how did Newhallville come about? What’s the history behind the name Newhallville? What’s the history behind Bassett School?” Harris told the Independent after the meeting. “There’s some real historical nuggets out there in terms of Newhallville that we’ve not dived into.”
“It’s just another way of beautifying Newhallville — giving a sense of who we are,” Harris said.
Harris has been raising the idea of installing signs throughout the neighborhood since February. She said this NPIP-funded project stemmed from monthslong conversations with management team members.
The NPIP funds will also go towards shared materials, such as tents, tables, and chairs, that neighborhood residents will be able to borrow for backyard events.
Harris told the Independent that she hopes the shared resources would assist neighbors who might not have the means to rent event supplies. “We’re in a time right now where some people don’t have jobs,” she said.
The resources would build off of an existing pool of community materials, including tents and trays, that were left over from a CARE-funded event at Lincoln Bassett School a few years ago. The supplies — which, according to Harris, have survived wear and tear over the years — currently sit in Harris’ backyard, she said, and they’re available for neighbors to borrow. Harris said she hopes to also use NPIP funds to purchase a shed for the shared materials, so that they can occupy a more communal space.
The remaining funds would be saved for the management team’s 2021 holiday party, according to Harris.
Harris said that a committee would be formed to determine specifics such as how much money to allocate to each project, where the signs will be installed, what they will say, and the precise community supplies that would be purchased.
This is great. Unfortunately the $10,000 Neighborhood Public Improvement Project (NPIP) was CUT from this year's budget. Cut to Zero. Even the crumbs are being taken away! But the City still managed to find money for a $400,000 custom annuity for one of the retiring NHFD union leaders from the suburbs. Can't blame that on Yale.
Dennis Serfilippi
New Haven Respect New Haven