Caroline Tanbee Smith is an alder for Ward 9 in New Haven. She represents parts of the city’s East Rock and Fair Haven neighborhoods.
She is proposing a plan to build a peaceful community space on State Street beneath the Interstate 91 underpass.
“You can really feel the physical divide in the city and in between these two neighborhoods [East Rock and Fair Haven],” Tanbee Smith said. “So about a year ago, me and a few other people looked at this underpass and this space and started to say, ‘OK, well, what if we were to take this area and reimagine it into an area that connects them back together?’”
She launched the project early this year, around the same time that New Haven received $2 million for its “reconnecting communities” initiative. That project aims to stitch back together parts of the city that were impacted by highway construction in the 1960s.
In the middle of the 20th century, at the height of the urban renewal movement, New Haven received $120 million in federal funding to clear urban blight and redevelop the aging industrial city. It was supposed to be an example for other American cities to follow.
The results were catastrophic. The construction of I-91 divided communities and caused residents to pour out into the suburbs in even larger numbers than before.
Smith hopes New Haven can be an example for other cities of how to atone for past mistakes.
“I think what's really exciting is the idea of saying, if that was part of our story, can New Haven now be a leader in reconnecting communities?” she said.
Smith’s project received over $17,000 from AARP, which will go toward ensuring accessibility for residents over the age of 50. It is meant to be an “intergenerational project,” which means suitable for, and available to, people of all ages.
But Smith has the youth in mind, too. Earlier this year, she led a drafting workshop with a group of local high school students, taking them on a walking tour through the area.
Most ambitious of all, Smith and her team of community planners have juggled the idea of building a small skate park. She’s been talking with Alexis Sablone, a former Old Saybrook resident and professional skateboarder who competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Smith also envisions the area as a site for creative energy. She says she’s engaged New Haven Sketchers, an art group that sketches different locations around the Elm City. She is also exploring the possibility of live music in the space.
The project is still in the planning stages. Smith is hosting a community planning session Aug. 6 at 6 p.m., onsite, outside the Ralph Walker Ice Rink. All New Haven residents are welcome to attend.
