It looks like the first new building at New London's Fort Trumbull, since the peninsula was cleared for development that never happened, is starting to take shape.

Mayor Michael Passero revealed last week that talks are well along with Electric Boat as a potential partner in a mixed-use development including a parking garage and possibly retail and residential space.

The talks suggest EB would guarantee a stream of revenue for the garage portion, which would help finance the project, the mayor said.

This would certainly be a good start at the outset of the mayor's new administration, priming the pump for even more to happen at Fort Trumbull.

It also turns a negative — the overflow parking problem around Electric Boat's office towers — into a big positive.

It would be a welcome nod toward good citizenship by the city's largest employer.

This being New London, there are a lot of moving pieces and a lot of places for this new development project to run off the rails.

But if the city can't get one finally moving, nothing will ever happen.

The mayor seemed cool to the suggestion that a community center might be a part of this new development, when I asked him.

He said he doesn't think the location is right for a community center.

With all due respect to the mayor, it would seem to me to be a perfect location for a community center, perhaps one run by the Ocean Community YMCA of Westerly and Mystic.

The appeal of luring the YMCA to New London would be the organization's excellent track record of serving all segments of the community, from families that might qualify for scholarships to middle-class families that want to participate in a modern, professionally run fitness center.

If anyone doubts this, take a ride over to Westerly some weekend day and see the diverse range of families streaming in and out, all ages, all colors, lots of people, taking classes, playing basketball, swimming.

What a great thing it would be if the taking of a neighborhood in New London could finally result in something so positive: a community recreation center.

I don't understand the mayor's geography when it comes to objections to a community center at Fort Trumbull.

It is within walking distance to many downtown neighborhoods. The city has public transportation, and, really, nothing in New London is too far to drive from anywhere else. It's always going to be closer to some neighborhoods than others.

Another benefit of putting it there is that it becomes an amenity for future development in Fort Trumbull and the downtown.

It would be easier to convince people to rent office space or live near a well-run community center.

With or without a community center, a new development at Fort Trumbull would be a good way for the mayor to justify his investment in the development agency that has not shed all its links to a dark past.

Mayor Passero promised while campaigning to support the Renaissance City Development Association, and he has made good on that, with funding even for staffing the agency.

The next step in the parking-related development is putting out a request for proposals.

Evidently the lure of building a project with guaranteed tenants — Electric Boat parking employees — is considered attractive enough to draw developers.

If not, maybe we can assume that the curse, by one of the neighborhood's most famous displaced residents, has stuck.

This is the opinion of David Collins.

d.collins@theday.com