Residents Prompt Q&A On Community Center Planning
After nearly three hours of responding to a room full of raised hands inquiring and commenting about a community center project, March 24, First Selectman Pat Llodra shared a few quiet words with resident Jenny Avari.
Feeling “much better about the phased approach” to current concepts for a project to include senior, aquatic, and community center spaces, Ms Avari said she is “ready to promote it. Now I’m excited.”
Residents had concerns about the funding, use of space, and how well the facility would serve Newtown. Many were particularly concerned that the project, aside from the aquatic center, was mostly for senior citizens and not a true community center. “Questions were appropriate,” Mrs Llodra said. What also “came across loud and clear” to her was that “early communications on concepts led people to believe [plans] were fixed and [residents] would not be able to interact.”
She realizes that she and others presenting the project to the public “may not have used the right words” to “get the message across.”
Roughly 40 people crowded into Newtown Municipal Center’s conference room Tuesday night to talk about the project, which would be funded in part with a $15 million gift from the GE Foundation. On April 28 at the town’s annual budget referendum, residents may have the chance to cast a vote to accept the $15 million, unless Mrs Llodra believes the town is not prepared to vote on the issue at that time.
Following Tuesday’s meeting, Mrs Llodra said, “If we have not yet succeeded in communicating thoroughly with the community, I don’t want to push something through.” She is planning additional information forums prior to April 28 “so we will have more chances for discussion.” The date for a referendum “is conditional,” she said, adding “the project has to be right for us or we shouldn’t do it.”
Despite the, at times, tense discussion this week, “I think we ended up in a much better place at end,” Mrs Llodra said. “People who came clearly were upset, and we spent time unraveling [concerns],” she added. “We needed to listen. I hope people feel this is a project worth pursuing. These conversations are worthwhile because I think we ended up in a better place.”
Minutes before the meeting broke up, resident Kate Mayer said, “Everyone would pass this” if residents had a clearer understanding of how the project’s spaces could be used.
Current planning calls for a Phase I construction of senior center space, rooms for community use, and an aquatic center with a gradual entry pool and a lap pool. Specific design details have not yet been determined. Phase I would use $10 million for construction of a new facility adjacent to the NYA Sports & Fitness Center at Fairfield Hills, with an additional $1 million a year to support operations for the next five years.
Phases II and III could include the construction of a connector to the NYA if the town chooses to purchase that facility for potential community and administrative uses for the Parks and Recreation Department, or the construction of additional community space added to Phase I. Town Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) funding is in place to support Phases II and III. The CIP includes $10 million in the year 2016-17 and another $5 million the following year. (See Newtown-ct.gov, and look on the Finance Department’s page to view the CIP 2015-16 to 2019-20.)
According to current plans, the entire proposed senior/aquatic space is roughly 35,000 square feet, 10,000 of which is the senior center, and the remainder is the aquatic center for the entire community. The aquatic center could include locker rooms, party and event rooms, a café and lobby area, administrative space, and storage.
Perceptions
Several people at the March 24 session suggested that the town should “rebrand” what the spaces are called.
“Rebrand, it’s a wonderful observation,” Mrs Llodra said the following day. “I think we have not been successful in communicating vision and intention,” Mrs Llodra said. “People are reacting to other people’s descriptions” of the project. She is concerned now with “the messaging — it has been incomplete and has allowed people to develop impressions based on misinformation.”
She also noted, “You can’t fight a battle against rumors either.”
Recent letters to the editor of The Newtown Bee, which attendees referenced and in one case quoted to the first selectmen, also cast doubt on the project.
In past weeks, one letter to the editor stated in part: “In the first phase, the seniors will get kitchen facilities, card playing room, craft rooms, library, pool tables, and a computer room — all locked up tight 4 pm. None of which will be available at anytime to the community.”
Another recent letter also questioning whether the GE funds would provide more than just a senior center, states in part: “A senior center doesn’t bring the community together … Our town leaders should help the town heal and use the donation for the purpose it was intended, a real community center.”
Mrs Llodra said, “We have been unable to convince people that although there is senior space, it doesn’t mean the rest of community will be excluded from those spaces, but programs for seniors would be prioritized.”
Regarding the sentiments of doubt expressed to her Tuesday about the Phase I senior center portion of the community center project, she said, “I did not understand the magnitude until last night.” She added, “That does not mean that other users could not use [the space] when seniors are not using it.” The facility “would be a municipal building and we would not exclude the community,” Mrs Llodra said.
In recent weeks Mrs Llodra had said that she feels strongly about honoring the seniors’ wishes. “When the seniors say their number one priority is dedicated space, I want to honor that, but that does not mean they own it. They have priority use, that’s what’s in my mind. This is a space that should be made available to others when it’s not being used specifically for a senior program.”
The community center project is also something for which the town has planned in the past, but never had the money like the GE Foundation is offering, Mrs Llodra explained Tuesday night. Past proposals that would have new senior center space and community space in the same building failed. Part of the problem had been that the senior community had not wanted any shared space.
Commission on Aging Chairman Curt Symes, who has been involved in current community center discussions, spoke with his commission last week. He had told them, “We need to network with the seniors regarding the interest of sharing space on a managed basis,” he said Tuesday night. He did not think matters would be “this contentious” regarding this week’s information session. “In reality, it’s all workable.”
Mrs Llodra believes she needs a professional marketing team to help her reach the public, she said.
“I have confidence that we will end up in the right place, but getting there is really hard.”
Fielding Questions
Throughout the three-hour meeting, Mrs Llodra and Community Center Advisory Committee member Andy Clure and architect Rusty Malik answered a variety of questions.
Yes, the conversations about the community center project are “academic” and if the town turns down the gift of $15 million at a referendum, Mrs Llodra would then return to the GE Foundation and “go back to the drawing board,” she said.
Should the money pass at referendum, does it automatically go toward the first phase for a senior and aquatic center, or can residents say they don’t want those things?
“The intention is to use the $15 million to start the three-phase project,” Mrs Llodra answered.
She explained that an advisory committee of residents and volunteers, which has consulted with groups including the Commission on Aging and the Parks and Recreation Department, and visited a host of surrounding towns’ community/senior/recreation centers felt that Phase I was the right starting point.
“We struggled with what makes sense for our town,” Mrs Llodra said.
If Phase I “is not the right starting point — it’s a leap of faith,” then Mrs Llodra would go back to GE, but she encouraged attendees to consider the phased project and “be long-range thinkers.” She hopes the community “challenges itself” to the three-phase project. “Before, we never had the money to start it. Now we do.”
Why did planning begin before residents voted to accept the money?
“The donor [GE] had expectations that there would be clarification of how it was used.” The Donor Agreement from GE outlines the financial commitment which will be used “solely to design, build and operate the Newtown Community Center … with dedicated spaces for seniors, community organizations, and two pools for community use to be owned by Newtown.”
The project is also phased because, “We knew we couldn’t do this in one step,” Mrs Llodra said.
One resident commented that with the senior and aquatic components happening first, “We are not getting a community center, that’s the problem.”
“We can’t do it all at once,” Mrs Llodra replied.
Are residents confined to terms in the Donor Agreement? Once employed with GE, resident Martha Poulter answered, “The town could disagree, the contract doesn’t bind us, the contract is just in the spirit of creating something for the community.”
“The big picture is that this is for everyone, but it’s in slices,” Mrs Llodra said.
What about the teens in town?
Parks and Recreation Commission Chair Ed Marks spoke up saying that “yes,” he and others have spent significant thought about teens. His board interacts with the schools and has considered revamping the teen center or expanding programs “in conjunction with the community center.”
One residents interjected, “It’s not guaranteed.”
“You’re right,” Mr Marks said.
Mrs Llodra said she is bringing the project before the public “so you know what’s in front of you.” She again spoke of the “big picture” and wondered if the town was “patient enough to achieve the big picture.”
Several people stressed that “it would be nice if our town came together,” which is what a community center is all about.
As the meeting drew to an end, Mrs Llodra said that “unless we can get past things, I don’t think we’ll have a project.”
Ultimately, the full project keeps in mind a vision statement, drafted by the advisory committee.
The vision states that the community center is a place where residents of every age and ability come together to participate in programs and activities that provide recreational, artistic, and creative opportunities that promote health, build self-esteem, showcase talent, encourage social interaction, and contribute to a healthy, vibrant, and supportive multi-generational community.
UPDATE (Friday, March 27, 2015, 3:15 pm): Another Newtown Community Center Phase I Information Session has been scheduled for Tuesday, March 31, at 7 pm, at Newtown Senior Center, 14 Riverside Road, according to the Newtown Community Center Facebook page. Additional info sessions have also been scheduled for Thursdays, April 2 and 9, beginning at 7 pm, in the Lecture Hall at Newtown High School, 12 Berkshire Road.