Sam Gurwitt Photo
Derrick Draughn.
Derrick Draughn of DCI Resources stood in his new white-walled office space in Hamden Monday evening, pointing out various features to the well-wishers and curious onlookers who trickled in and out.
DCI Resources has a large room on the lower level of Borough 496, Hamden’s new business incubator. After years of planning and renovations, Borough 496 had its grand opening Monday evening, signaling that it is now open and ready for businesses to move in.
DCI Resources was the first business to move into the incubator. A U‑Haul had showed up earlier on Monday to unload equipment. By evening, the room was in order for the grand opening.
“The lease is still wet from the signature,” said Draughn.
Draughn is the CEO of the now Hamden-based IT firm. It used to have its headquarters at 50 Fitch St. in New Haven, from which it moved its headquarters. The company will hold its IT training program at the incubator (as it does in other offices throughout the state).
Dale Kroop, Martin Looney, and State Rep. Josh Elliott.
On Monday, State Sen. Martin Looney presented Hamden Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Dale Kroop with a certificate from the state. Kroop has been working on the project for 10 years.
Read a previous article detailing the development of Borough 496 here.
In addition to announcing the first occupant — DCI Resources — Monday also featured another announcement about the incubator. Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno (pictured above) of the Connecticut Department of Housing announced that it will be home to the Housing and Community Development Leadership Institute, a year-long AmeriCorps-like professional training program for young professionals interested in pursuing careers in community development. The Department of Housing has promised $200,000 for the program over the next two years. Participants would receive a salary and work full-time at Borough 496, potentially writing grants for businesses and administering those grants if they receive them. Kroop said he hopes to begin the program in the fall of 2020.
Once the official programming of the evening finished, guests wandered around the building and admired the many rooms. Dale Kroop (pictured above) gave tours of the building with the freshly-cut ribbon around his neck.
Shawn Kelly and Bradley Ellis (pictured above) stuck around in the gym and looked up at the large stage that forms one end. A few weeks ago, they filed paperwork with the state to create Magnolia Theatre Company, a new Hamden/North Haven community theater.
Ellis said he and Kelly had come to the opening to look for possible rehearsal spaces, not realizing there is a stage in the gym. They looked at the stage for a few minutes, remarking on its proportions, and then stepped up onto it and peered around, as if envisioning a production.
In a hallway on the other end of the building, Adrienne Rouse-Senior, Pamela Draughn, and Lori Draughn (pictured, in that order) looked around the shiny floors and clean walls and thought not of the future but of the past. All three said they grew up in the neighborhood, where they still live, and used to frequent the building when it was a community center. Girl Scouts, Brownies, sewing classes, summer camps — they all took place in the building. Rouse-Senior said she had her first job there when she was a teenager.
The center also hosted social dances. Lori Draughn said she and Pamela had a curfew, “but that’s when the dance started getting good.”
So their mother would show up to tell them it was time to go. “She would come in her bathrobe and hair curlers because we broke our curfew,” said Pamela.
As they stood in the hallway, more memories flooded back. Somewhere in the recesses of her mind, Pamela drew out the name of the beloved janitor: Bill.
“I love the fact that they didn’t take all the old out,” she said. “Even though it’s new, we can still feel that it’s home.”
That's great! It would be so much easier to get to if the town installed a protected cycle track for a few blocks to connect this new facility with the nearby Farmington Canal Trail.