Gateway Community College hopes to consolidate its split New Haven campuses with the aid of $180 million in financing from the state.
A 40-year-old theater and an 11,000-student community college will soon be getting a new home closer to the heart of New Haven. Gov. John G. Rowland and New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr., announced earlier this month that the state would finance $180 million to help Gateway Community College and Long Wharf Theatre relocate from their locations on New Haven’s Long Wharf to downtown.
“Everybody here is very excited this has come to pass,” said Evelyn Gard, director of public relations at Gateway.
The moves are another step in New Haven’s ongoing revitalization. The city began its revitalization efforts about five years ago with a change in philosophy, Economic Development Administrator Henry Fernandez told The Commercial Record last month.
Fernandez and other members of the city government looked at New Haven’s strengths – its strong arts community and the presence of Yale University and its medical complex – and decided to play those up, Fernandez said.
The relocation of Gateway and Long Wharf Theatre fits in with that philosophy. The city also concentrated on getting more people living and visiting the downtown area and the relocation will help achieve that goal, as well, said New Haven Director of Public Information Derek Slap.
“It’s a way to bring jobs downtown,” he said.
More jobs will bring more people and add to the success of the shops and restaurants downtown. The move will also bring tax money and economic growth to downtown, Slap said.
The Long Wharf Theatre will be relocated from Long Wharf, a semi-industrial area on New Haven Harbor, to the site of the city’s unused Coliseum. The move will save taxpayers money, Slap said. The Coliseum has been controversial with some fans wishing it could be saved, but it would cost $30 million for renovations to make the facility usable again and costs $2 million a year to keep open, Slap said.
“We’re taking something that was costing taxpayers money and making it Long Wharf Theatre,” he said.
The theater now leases its building on Sargent Drive, said Managing Director Michael Stotts. The idea of moving has been percolating for five or six years, Stotts said. The theater’s leaders have been exploring sites throughout the city since they learned the owners of their building did not want to renew the lease. The lease was originally supposed to run out in 2007, but Stotts negotiated a three-year extension.
Stotts said he hopes the theater can be moved into its new location by then. Because the plans are still in the early stages, there are no concrete designs of the new building, Stotts said. The cost, however, is more concrete. The total cost of the relocation, demolition and construction will be about $60 million. The state will provide half of that and the theater will be responsible for the rest, Stotts said. The theater will begin a capital fund raising campaign, he said.
The move will be mostly positive for the theater company, which has been first home to many Broadway and Pulitzer Prize-winning plays, Stotts said. His one concern is that some audience members have been coming to the Sargent Drive theater for 40 years and may not be as comfortable in a new setting. But that can be fixed with the right design at the new building, he said.
Most members of the theater troupe are excited about the move. The company’s board of directors voted unanimously in favor of the relocation.
“I think it’s going to bring us into the existing activity happening in downtown New Haven,” Stotts said. “There’s just an excitement to being in a downtown area.”
Comprehensive Campus
The sentiment at Gateway Community College is the same, Gard said. The college has been growing and needs more space soon.
“We’re out of room,” Gard said.
There is also a financial side to Gateway’s decision to move. The college now is divided into two campuses, one on Long Wharf and one in North Haven. The North Haven campus is home to the school’s nursing, automotive and other programs, Gard said. But the cost of running two campuses is restrictive and it can be inconvenient for students who have to shuttle back and forth, she said. The school is the fastest-growing community college in Connecticut and the last to have a comprehensive campus, Gard said. The new downtown campus will allow the school to consolidate.
The campus will be located on the site of the old Macy’s and Malley’s department stores at the corner of George and Church streets. A conceptual plan shows a four-story building that stretches over two blocks and has an atrium in the central area, over George Street, Gard said.
The new campus will cost an estimated $140 million, according to a statement from the governor’s office. The state will pay for it, Gard said.
Both the Coliseum and the Macy’s and Malley’s property belong to the city, according to Slap. The college is now working on the transfer of the property, Gard said. When that is complete, the college will put the project out to bid. They hope to move into the new building in 2009, Gard said.
But some aspects of the move still need to be figured out, she said. The new building will butt up against the parking garage on Temple Street and students and faculty will park there. That will take away parking for other businesses in the downtown area, so the city has to figure out where that parking can be made up, Gard said. The state will likely contribute to the money needed for more parking. According to the statement from the governor’s office, more parking, a hotel and conference center, retail shops and residential units are part of the plan.
The state money is a necessity, Slap said.
“[The plans] wouldn’t have been possible without the governor,” he said.
The city hopes Long Wharf will attract more retailers after the theater and college are gone, Slap said. The city’s long-awaited Ikea is there and is scheduled to open next month, Slap said. Other retailers have also shown an interest in the area, which is about half a mile from downtown New Haven and right off the Interstate.
