Wooster Square Awaits DeLauro Sculpture

I have no position on the table either way, but consternation about "honors" seem a little excessive.

The park is named after an individual. There is a statue of another individual (Columbus) on the side opposite where this table will go.

At the end of the day, there will be some stone benches, with inscriptions and quotes of one family. I highly doubt this leans towards excessive adulation.

Heck, a bunch of the park benches in the park have plaques with people's and families names on them. Are these also inappropriate?

The proposal, has by-passed a required review at the Historic District Commission for a Certificate of Appropriateness (just as the lights, benches and pathway reconstruction did 20 or so years ago. Without this, the Building Department should stop the project. It also should have been presented to the Management Team. The fact that these requirements and customary reviews where by-passed indicates that they guessed the public would not want this. After the loss of great trees in the storms of the last few years, the critical need is to replace them. Tree planting and setting up an endowment for the park would have been popular and far-sighted. I agree with Ms. Lederer, the bench and table is not a positive addition to the park. The stuff will sit, by the way, not on a "dog path" but the runners path. What to do with the stone seats and table? Bring them to the play space at Conte-Westhills School for the students and teachers to enjoy at recess.

Big Waste of Money Democrat Style,Plus there are Many who do not go with her way of Politics in Washington, Should be stopped without a Permit and Neighborhood Vote, What has happened to the "Vote " We The People?

Waste of money and an eyesore. If you want to look at sculpture, walk up Chapel to the Yale Gallery or British Museum. We need more trees not cement. And by the way, Columbus contributed to the genocide of native Americans in the West Indies. I consider all rock/concrete memorials to anyone a waste of space and a pretense of piety. This includes grave "yards". I don't like Yale but I'm donating my body to the med school. No grave. No stone. No regret.

Wooster Square is a 19th Century park and neighborhood. Any monument, fencing, lighting, paving or sculptural addition to it should reinforce what the park is by having a design that is formal, refined and congenial with the time period that characterizes the neighborhood, which is this case is the early 19th Century.
Contemporary design belongs in contemporary developments.
Modern design goes in modern developments.
Period style design goes in traditional developments.
The only time that this should ever be ignored is if a development is being reformed because of its dificient design. An example for when not building in a modern style in a modern development is appropriate would be Route 34 East, where the modern environment is deficient and needs to be reformed with an urban scale intervention that uses human scale details to make a more hospitipal place to inhabit.
In the case of Wooster Square, is there an argument being made here that the character of the neighborhood is deficient and needs reform? Or is the sculpture an attempt (and subsequent massive failure) to playfully inject contemporary art into a traditional park for no reason other than for its own amusement?

Why not actual functioning benches & tables, instead of a monument that does nothing for people still living and using the park?

Parks are public spaces and not appropriate for monuments to local individuals, unless public sentiment supports it.

It has to be said, based on the rendering, this looks completely out of character with the park.

It feels lumpen, uncomfortable, and arbitrary in its design. One of the beauties of the park in its current state is its relative lack of clutter; add one or two more such privately-funded memorials, pour a few more square yards of concrete, and the attraction of Wooster Square as a simply-furnished space under the trees will be crowded out. Family memorials are all very well, but if they are to be placed in the public realm, should they not be held to the requirement that they add to, rather than detract from, the quality and character of that space?

Dear Luisa, please ask them to use what is left of the $30,000 to remove the steel and concrete, replace the grass, and then spend the remainder on refurbishing the altogether more soft-spoken wooden benches that line the existing footpaths. That would be a more honorable memorial; less flamboyant, perhaps, but of much greater service to the community.

Maybe I don't have an eye for art, but... that is just an eye sore. Change the design or put it somewhere else. I'm also upset that we weren't asked our opinion about it before construction started.

The assertion that there was community consultation is utter balderdash and obfuscation. There were fewer than ten people consulted in this neighborhood, and the Wooster Square Historic District committee deliberately kept this a secret. Consulting with friends and cronies doesn't count: what would have counted was a public hearing, announced well in advance.

The truth is that they decided to do it and didn't care what the neighborhood thought. They should tell us right now where the money came from -- why is that a secret? It's public land!!!

When I called Rosa de Lauro's office they claimed they knew nothing about it -- which wasn't true, since they were obviously really nervous and had to consult with all sorts of folks before telling me they knew nothing about it. I called the mayor's and parks department and received no call in return.

We already have an incredibly ugly statue of Columbus in the park, and now this: since when does "private money" get to plunk down something on public land just because they have political influence?

And as for the WSHD, it can take months, or even years, to get approval from them to make modest renovations on a house that you actually own, and this just slid through in a couple months? Please. This is cronyism, and I am sorry that Rosa de Lauro -- a politician I have admired -- did not put a stop to this. She should be embarrassed about it.

What an unattractive and obtrusive way to memorialize someone. In a small public park why not plant needed trees and/or add a lovely bench? Or, something that fits stylistically, if a great big monument must be built.

What a shame.

I'm surprised and disappointed. Generally I like Barry Svigals' work, but as previous commenters have noted, both the process and the planned monument itself seem to be seriously flawed here.

What nattering nabobs of negativity! The table looks really nice and I bet will be well used, particularly given the proximity to the farmer's market. What a wonderful tribute to a family that has contributed so much to New Haven.

I just figured it out! This is what Rosa DeLauro got from DeStefano for making that awful campaign endorsement!

To Cookie Monster: yeah it will be well used by the alcoholics, drug addicts who also use the benches. I know because I often see the surrounds of these benches littered with alcohol bottles and little plastic packets. Also kids will be jumping all over it and dogs peeing on it. I liked the the green space and the orange color is an eyesore. Why aren't they at least using granite that blends in with the scenery. I agree with many writers here that a much better memorial would be to put the money in to replanting trees, keeping the lawn mowed and the park clean.

As a Wooster Street resident, I agree with KD:
"Dear Luisa, please ask them to use what is left of the $30,000 to remove the steel and concrete, replace the grass, and then spend the remainder on refurbishing the altogether more soft-spoken wooden benches that line the existing footpaths. That would be a more honorable memorial; less flamboyant, perhaps, but of much greater service to the community."

The corner naming ceremony was a wonderful tribute to not only Luisa Delauro but to her entire family. Rumor has it DeStefano refused to be a part of organizing this event because his chief aid did not want him "on the same podium at Michael Smart," an alderperson with whom the Mayor often disagrees. Indeed, when Michelle DeLieto surprisingly called the Mayor to the podium (obviously much to the Mayor's surprise as well) he insulted all of us: "I know we don't all like each other," he began. Dear Mayor, this was NOT about you- how disrespectful!
We all knew King John would find his own way to jump in the game, and viola! he most certainly did. To honor this family with a gigantic, out of scale, inappropriate "sculpture" is definitely DeStefano's style. And he's such a cry-baby. I hope he'll be crying the first Tuesday of November.
As mentioned above, a tree and a bench (in scale to the other tributes)would have been more in keeping with both the spirit of all those involved (residents, neighbors, friends, and family)and with the aesthetics of the site. How disheartening that Rosa endorsed DeStefano in his 10th bid for Mayor while other politicians carefully stayed out of the fray. Regardless of how good a job Rosa may be doing, she too obviously does not believe in term limits.
By the way, did anyone notice the size of those footings?- how much dirt had to be removed? That in itself is a testament to how out-of-scale this project is. What could have been increased is NEIGHBORHOOD participation. Can't wait to see the donor list! I bet we already know who those people are.

Crony-ism Run Amok
Let's be clear; the Mayor had to work hard to keep the residents of the square in the dark about this monumental chunk of granite using up a whole section of the park where children (used to) play. A simple request that neighborhood people be informed by the Wooster Square
Historical Society and/or the Neighborhood Block-Watch would have
accessed over three hundred names. Meetings could have been held.
The Mayor did not "consult;" he informed the few people he called in that
this would be happening. It was not presented as the giant mausoleum-like construction that is now being built, but as something much smaller, and even this was opposed by at least some that he spoke to. It was presented as being 'secret' in order to 'surprise' the family, which may account for why word did not spread, but even those he told about it were blind-sided by the size scope and placement of this self-aggrandizing piece of work. The fact that the Parks Department has total control and the final say over what happens to our city spaces needs re-visiting by those who could do some re-writing of the
rule book. As it now stands, anyone with money and connections can put anything up even in a site that should have been protected by its historical importance.
PS I wonder if Rosa DeLauro would mind weighing in on this? It is, after all, factor in her relationship with her constituents. Her office when called said "She knew about it but had not pushed for it." (!)

As an active Wooster Street Resident, I am very surprised that I did not hear of this until now. I participate in the Wooster Square Block Watch and the DWSCMT and not once was this brought to our attention. It is very disappointing.

Art for the masses, & we know what's good them.
This was ham-fisted, heavy-handed and aesthetically inconsistent. Otherwise, a
great idea.

@ Non Consulted Neighbor,

The finished product will not be orange, according to the caption to the rendering above, which also notes that it won't be on the spot where the rendering depicts.

The whole way this is being rolled out, including a rendering that doesn't actually show the object as it will actually look or where it will actually be, is just bizarre.

I love the DeLauro family and I would have been honored to help think of a way to appropriately honor their contribution to New Haven and Wooster Square. I visited the construction site today and I agree with Jane. The design of the monument is interesting but, based on the current hole in the ground, the scale is much too large for this corner of the park. It blocks the path used by walkers and runners, and it fundamentally changes the character and design of one of Connecticut's great public spaces...and not for the better.

Given the many, many hoops property owners are required to jump through to make changes to their homes in historic WS, this project should not have been initiated without public hearings and the approval of the various historic and other associations concerned with the preservation of WS. It is regrettable that this overdue honor will be forever overshadowed by a terrible process and an inappropriate placement in WSP.

The monument surprisingly being erected in the historic Wooster Square Park to further honor Rosa DeLauro's mother is simply wrong! Wrong on so many levels:

• Wrong because it was planned quietly – architect hired to design it, private funds amassed to fund it, contractors contracted to manufacture and install it – long in advance of any public mention, which came this summer with the mayor inviting a few hand-picked community leaders to his office to deliver the news. At that point it was a done deal and the only participation offered to them was to help select the spot in the park for its placement.

• Wrong because the park is an historic "tree park", 186 years old, that is watched over by neighborhood associations and groups who help the city maintain it physically and sustain it monetarily.

• Wrong because prior to 2011 the only commemorative markers were a Veteran's Memorial for fallen neighbors who gave their lives in WWll and another small plaque on a rock honoring classmates of 1928 who also died in WWll. There is a stone post, the same size and shape as the posts used for the historic wrought iron fence, with a plaque reading Wooster Square Historic District 1 and a circle of granite embedded in a central walkway honoring Gen. David Wooster the park's namesake – all tastefully discrete and appropriate to the park and history.

• Wrong because any personal family monument is inappropriate, not to mention the modern design and large scale better suited for an open plaza or large outdoor sculpture park, dwarfing the subtle rock and circle commemoration of real heroes.

• Wrong because it takes away the grass area where neighborhood elementary school children use for exercise and play.

• Wrong because it sets a precedent that lays ground for other individuals and groups to fill the park with erected statues and monuments.

As seen peppered in neighborhoods across the city, corner street signs honor area residents who have served their communities well. Mrs. DeLauro was given that honor for her service as an Alder-person this Spring with her name being posted on the corner of Chapel and Academy Streets in Wooster Square. Fair and appropriate enough.
However, this type of monument display is disturbing and totally inappropriate. It needs to be stopped. It is viewed by those of us who live here as tantamount to a mausoleum – not what the founders, subsequent preservationists and neighborhood envision for our front lawn and public park.

If the powers behind this alleged $30,000 structure truly wanted to do something that connected Mrs. DeLauro to the historic park, they might have made that monetary donation in her name to help restore the historic fence and benches that are rotting, and to replace the beautiful century old trees that are dying. Now wouldn't that have been a meaningful and welcome tribute?

There is a long list of Wooster Square residents past and present who have given and continue to give tirelessly to the preservation of our historic park, some still here living and giving for 40 – 50 years. Yet there is no monument or mention of their names, nor would they want there to be because they give for their love and understanding of the park's importance not for recognition.

Can anything be done to undo this? Would Michael Smart have any advice? Who has the power to issue a "stop work" order? Should the community organize a petition, maybe online?

At this point any real friends of the DeLauros should be trying to figure out how to stop this as quickly as possible, to keep the family name from becoming the object of disgust rather than the subject of honored memory.

I agree with much of what has been posted above. Could someone please tell what recourse we have to stop this process?

I'm sure this is some kind of backdoor DeLauro-DeStefano political payoff. They will reveal the donors after it's done? Please.

KD and LD,

Starting a community petition asap is an excellent idea - go for it! However, I am not politically savvy and don't know how to stop the motion in progress. Start by asking Jeff Kerekes, a WS neighbor and mayoral candidate, he could have those answers.

It's a fine idea to honor Luisa with something beautiful -- but this? What a shame that her name will be associated with something that irritates people, sticks out garishly in an otherwise gracious and beloved park, and is positioned such that it obstructs the play of children and recreation of adults. $30,000 could have gone a long way to maintain the beautiful cherry trees, and an elegant and understated plaque could have honored Luisa more appropriately. Of course, it's also shocking that stealth tactics were used and most of us didn't know about it until the concrete was poured. How disappointing.

$30,000 could have contributed to constructing a dog park somewhere in the Wooster Square neighborhood- much needed with the closing of the former space, and it would be well-used and loved by the many dog-owning residents of Wooster.

I agree with other posts- it is a lot of money could have been used to generally improve the Wooster Square Park and neighborhood (including broken bench repairs and trees-planting) in a way that more directly benefitted quality of life and safety of our neighbors.

What a fitting memorial, something really ugly.

If I ever rate a memorial, please let it be discrete and something people can enjoy.

maybe i'm wrong but wasn't Luisa fired from city hall for making a racist remark years ago..someone refresh my memory

[Ed.: It was a probate court job. See <a href="http://articles.courant.com/1998-11-12/news/9811120267_1_racial-slur-resignation-letter-racial-remarks&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.]

@ Curious

You are correct. NHI couldnt print my comments from yesterday so i gave them proof that she resigned from probate court due to that. It was actually alot worse if you read the NH Register story about it. And we are naming streets and monuments after her.
I hope this gets printed......

What a waste of good park space!

Libby Van Cleve wrote: "her name will be associated with something that irritates people, sticks out garishly..."

Quite appropriate actually.

Many years ago, when the Wooster Square neighborhood was going to be destroyed by Mayor Lee, two people led the way, and rallied the residents, and the children of residents, to stop the I-91 right of way from going straight through the Park.

The evidence of that attempt is still evident. The condos on Greene St, at the north end of the park. Depalma Court, where the Farmers Market gathers on Saturdays. The co-ops at Wooster and DePalma Court. The site of the cities new business school on Water St., which was the location of the Gannett Advertising building and the Melebus Club, formerly on the corner of Water St., and Olive St.

All of those structures and residential complexes were built on land that residential structures were destroyed in the early sixties to create the right of way for I-91. If you follow this path, you can come to realise how close Mayor Lee came to running a highway through Columbus Green.

Two people who had been marginally involved in city politics, Ted and Luisa DeLauro, led the way and organized other residents, to follow them, when they went out and blocked the bulldozers and stopped the destruction.

Why? For love of their neighborhood. They did not stand alone, but they were the spark, that started a movement to preserve the neighborhood for future residents to enjoy the park, live in the beautiful buildings, and a neighborhood where one could stay even into their senior years. She did this so all the residents could be proud to say "I live in the Wooster Square Neighborhood".

Luisa continued into politics after that, and historically, as a woman, her fights were for the rights of the underdogs. Working Families, Seniors, Veterans of WWI, WWII, and the Korean War. She also was proud to fight for the rights of woman to be equal partners in all things American. She championed the rights of the working woman after many perished in the fire at the shirt factory , which at the time was nothing but a sweat shop. Education was also on her plate and as an Alderwoman she made sure that Conte School always reremainedhere, and well taken care of.

Oh, and the wonderful Cherry trees, that everyone is so proud of, and celebrate every year. Well it would surprise all of the critics in these comments to learn that they can thank LUISA DELAURO AND JAN PARKER for those, as they organized the funding, and were out there helping to plant them when the project started. It is emembarrassingo go to the festival every year and here people who stand around and pat themselves on the back for "saving Wooster Square" and organizing the Cherry Blossom Festival, and not one of them has the decency, or awareness, to recognize that elderly woman in the wheelchair in the front row, Luisa, who saved the park, and planted the trees they celebrate.

So as so many have commented, ALL POLOTICS ASIDE, why wouldn't this woman's historical contributions be recognized in a park, and neighborhood she saved and loves.

It is one thing to be critical of her daughter, as that is the climate we live in, but a 97 year old woman, who still lives in the neighborhood, and should be thanked by every current resident every time they see her for the quality of life one has living here. And sorry to say, one has to have lived here to really understand how nice it is.

Honestly, the woman would have been Mayor and imagine the monument she would have recievreceivedas she would have been New Haven's first female mayor. But as these comments show, bias comes in many forms, and hate blows out in all directions, uncontrolled, when there is a lack of respect for understanding your history and the need to be respectful and humane to your elders.

To all the critics, shame on you, you are an embarrassment to Wooster Square, and the love and kindness that has always been a big part of the neighborhood.

This last comment is very important, and would have been excellent context as part of a community-wide effort to honor Mrs. De Lauro, her husband and her daughter (who I admire greatly, but whose role in this was misguided at best.)

The problem here is not whether Mrs. De Lauro should be honored or not (although why she needs a corner and a marble bench and table set is a mystery.) The problem is the process, and the cronyism that it stands for. The community was not consulted: fewer than a half dozen people were, and they were told to keep it a secret. Keeping the donors secret is a mistake. None of this had to be a secret, except that the mayor wanted to put it over on the community before anyone knew what was up. A tasteful memorial that allowed Mrs. De Lauro to be honored by the community, and not by a machine politician who is losing his grip on the city, would have been the right way to do things.

I agree -- the comments should not be taking the turn of going after Mrs. De Lauro. But in a community where building permits get held up for years because the Historic Commission can't get its act together, to have that same HIstoric Commission crawl into the Mayor's pocket and hide the fact that he is installing something of dubious aesthetic value on public land and paying for it with anonymous, private donations, just stinks. It's their fault Mrs. De Lauro is taking it on the chin, not the community's.

Thank you curious and westville man for your insights.

Thank you Joe Redente for your history lesson. You have certainly won me over to the idea that she rates a memorial in this beautiful park. However, I still opine the design and execution of the memorial is poor.

Joe Redente argues strongly that Luisa DeLauro should be remembered for her contributions to Wooster Square.

But why oh why would one want to "surprise" someone who has apparently done so much to beautify the park with a monument that disfigures its beauty? Why would one commemorate someone who has worked so hard to rally the residents and preserve the neighborhood by building something that now has so many residents rallying to preserve the neighborhood? Ironically this seems to have the community fighting against City Hall to save what they love about their park. Sound familiar?

Please, friends of Luisa, find a more appropriate way to honor her. If what Joe Redente writes is true, then this proposal does her a grave disservice.

@ Joe Redente

I assume I am one of your "critics" at whom your comments and history lesson are directed. I want to clarify a few things:

About a month ago I heard that something was being done to honor the DeLauro Family. My 1st thoughts were, wow, what a great honor to a great family. I can still picture Teddy with his pipe in his mouth[unlit most times] when he would discuss the long hours that took him through the neighborhood to discuss the plans that the New Haven ReDevelopment Agency had in store for Wooster Square.His talks with the Families were calming and reassuring to the people that the Neighborhood would not be Bulldozed, like others in the City at that time.Ted & Luisa were 2 of the most honest people I ever met in the local political arena of New Haven.I wish Ted was alive today to see this honor bestowed for the work that was done by the DeLauro Family. Bless you Luisa & Rosa,Ted is looking down on all of us.

We've started a petition to stop the construction of the DeLauro monument that has recently come to the attention of the neighborhood. Please sign if you're opposed to the installation.

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/move-the-monument.html

Good to have this, however belated, public forum. There is a big span from Claire Potter to Cookie Monster! I also appreciate Gretchen P.'s position, esp. her 2nd entry. In this 18th-century and, then again, "post-modern" neighborhood, the proposed monument has a not too appropriate "modern" clunkiness -- something with more lightness and embellishment would be desirable. And: nothing wrong with practicality either! The Conte School idea and the idea of a monument whose benches and table could be USED by park lovers both have merit. Hopefully a 'compromise', of one of those types, can be worked out. Granted, there are other issues at work here..., but these seem to be the most acute.

Neighbors and Friends of Wooster Square,

It's not too late! We've started a petition to STOP the construction of the DeLauro monument in our historic Wooster Square Park.

You can see the footprint if you go to the north end of park, and read about the monument here
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/monument_in_/

Please look at the petition, and if you agree, add your signature, and forward this email on to others.

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/move-the-monument.html

Speed is critical. We want to stop it before it's installed!

JOIN 120 NEIGHBORS WHO SIGNED THE PETITION

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/move-the-monument.html

I certainly believe the Delauro family should be honored in any way, as they were instrumental in the development of the Wooster Sq. area as we know it today. BUT ! Have you seen the very contemporary sculpture of the granite table and chairs??? It is quite UGLY! It is so out of character for this vintage area of the city, and does not reflect the heritage of our ancestors. Now if they designed a table and chairs like our grandparents had, wood type old fashioned table with spindle wood chairs (yes - it could be made out of granite, or any type stone or iron sculpture) - it would be more indicative of the area and honoring the ancestors who lived in that area during the development of Wooster Sq. To me it's a modern element to be placed in a traditional setting. Can you picture Mrs. Delauro sitting on one of those granite blocks they refer to as chairs???? Please. This just doesn't make sense to me.

To all the neighbors who oppose this: Grow up! This woman and her family have done more for this neighborhood and for more years than you are probably old. You were probably in your diapers or weren't born yet, when Luisa and Ted were fighting to save the very neighborhood you live in. Stop making life complicated and let the DeLauro family enjoy this honor.
From someone who grew up in Wooster Sq. and has fond memories of Columbus Green.

To bad so many people forget as to why Luisa had to resign he office. ... .....

I think it's a nice thing to honor Luisa and Teddy DeLauro in this way. They were both great people and did so much for us who grew up in the Wooster Square area,their door was always open for anyone. I think they would be proud.