Strong School’s Future Comes Into Focus

The more you leave an old historic building empty, the more bad things happen — which is why the recently selected affordable housing re-developers of Fair Haven’s Strong School want to move as quickly as possible.

“We are really ready to roll up our sleeves,” Pennrose Developer Karmen Cheung told the attendees at the latest regular meeting of the Fair Haven Community Management Team. 

She also stressed during that meeting that the national affordable housing redeveloper wants to keep soliciting community input on the project over the course of the project’s three-year timeline. ​“And one area we are particularly looking for feedback on is on the uses for the large community space” that will face Grand Avenue, she said.

That discussion emerged at Thursday night’s hybrid gathering. The meeting drew 31 people in person and another dozen attending via the Zoom screen that illuminated the subterranean community room of the Fair Haven branch library.

Following on last week’s official announcement that the city had chosen Philadelphia-based Pennrose as the preferred developer of the Strong School, Cheung came for a kind of friendly victory lap and update. 

Several stalwarts of the management team, including long-time chair/cochairs Diane Ecton and Lee Cruz and Fair Haven Alder Sarah Miller, also served on the city’s selection panel that ultimately gave the thumbs up for the $25 million project to Pennrose. That project would see Pennrose convert the historic long-vacant school building into 58 new affordable apartments, an artists’ community, and a public gathering space.

Ecton confirmed on Thursday night that Pennrose’s specific experience in restoration/adaptation of historic schools buildings into affordable housing was among the main reasons for her preference for Pennrose over the local, Housing Authority-affiliated Glendower Group.

An aspect of the winning proposal also was the commitment that the developer stay close to the community. To that end, Cheung said, ​“Our goal is to come back on a quarterly basis for updates.”

She said she had met with Mayor Elicker earlier in the day, he is excited about the project and had assured her, she reported, that the city will provide Pennrose with its ​“A Team” to move the project forward through the many steps and approvals required even before a shovel is put in the ground.

He was concerned with the timeline, she said. 

That is: for a building vacant for 10 years, and now requiring many approvals not only from the usual city planning, zoning, and aldermanic officials, but also the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), time is of the essence.

“So our goal is to move as fast as possible,” she said.

Yet, what with ​“needing to make sure we stay to state and federal [preservation] standards,” Cheung estimated a shovel enters the ground only in 2024. And then given a ballpark 16-month actual construction schedule, the ceremonial ribbon cutting would occur no earlier, she estimated, than 2026.

The next step of many is a land disposition agreement, or LDA, turning the property over to Pennrose, and that requires an aldermanic vote, which, Cheung said, has not yet been scheduled.

In the meantime, Cheung is meeting with community groups and anchoring organizations such as the Fair Haven Community Health Center to see how they might utilize the proposed community space and she asked for more ideas as the project proceeds.

LGBTQ Friendly. How So?

In an email exchange after the meeting, Cheung responded to the Independent’s questions on how specifically community input on uses desired would influence the physical design and construction of the space; and what specifically Pennrose means by creating a development that is ​“LGBTQ friendly.”

Here are some highlights from her answers:

Independent: What’s an example of a community use and how that might affect the configuration of the space? Stuff like that, and what form will the ongoing feedback take?

Cheung: An example of a community use would be having the Fairhaven Community Management Team meetings at the completed Strong School, or maybe even hosting the Thanksgiving dinner that was mentioned at the meeting last night. Or if there is a performance/arts group that is looking for space to meet/perform, we would love those connections. We’re looking for the space to be utilized! Any feedback and thoughts on programming can obviously go through Alder Miller but I will also be attending these Management Team meetings every quarter so I’ll be around also!

Independent: Would community input really specifically affect design?

Cheung: Yes, if we collectively have a strong case for a specific use that would have construction implications we would explore ways to include that in our design. But keep in mind that what we can do is limited by what SHPO and NPS consider compatible with historic standards. We have to comply with their guidance. 

Independent: What makes a building LGBTQ friendly? This is cited in your RFP and you have consulted with the Pride Center in the development of the proposal. Can you elaborate?

Cheung: An LGBTQ-friendly building is exactly how it sounds. We make sure that through our messaging, design, and practice we make sure to communicate that this is a place where all people, including LGBTQ identifying individuals are welcome. That should be true at every place but yet in reality we’ve heard many stories where LGBTQ individuals have felt unsafe at housing developments. We would also look to create connections with organizations like the Fairhaven Community Health Center, which provides services to all populations but also has particular services for the LGBTQ population. 

Independent: But are units for LGBTQ people different from those for anybody else?

Cheung: The units will all be constructed to the same standards. There may be some small interior design elements that reflect that it is LGBTQ friendly. We have not developed this in detail for the Strong School yet but over time I am sure opportunities will present to create small design moves to signify we are LGBTQ friendly. At the Pryde in Boston, an example of a small element is that there will be a marked path on the floor in the former school auditorium that will be painted rainbow colors.

On Monday, the Independent also reached out to New Haven Pride Center Acting Director Juancarlos Soto for his thoughts on Pennrose’s plans to build an apartment complex that is LGBTQ friendly at the Strong School, especially given that a Pennrose representative said during this September community meeting that the nonprofit developer had been working closely with the local Pride Center.

“We’re very excited that this is happening. We’re very excited about being a part of this space and showing up even more for our community,” Soto said. 

He stressed that a LGBTQ friendly apartment complex at the former Strong School can and must be about much more than just ​“design choices.” Such a plan should also include ​“tangible actions” like creating spaces for organizations like the Pride Center to host programming and expand their advocacy in the Fair Haven neighborhood.

Thomas Breen contributed to this report.