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    Sunday, November 03, 2024

    Steel-topping ceremony held for New London community and recreation center

    Community members and students from Bennie Dover Jackson Multi-Magnet Middle School sign a beam during a steel-topping ceremony for the New London community and recreation center Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, at Fort Trumbull. (Sarah Gordon/The Day)
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    Community members and students from Bennie Dover Jackson Multi-Magnet Middle School sign a beam during a steel-topping ceremony for the New London community and recreation center Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, at Fort Trumbull. (Sarah Gordon/The Day)
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    Mayor Michael Passero, right, and Felix Reyes, director of New London’s Office of Planning and Development, speak during a steel-topping ceremony for the New London community and recreation center Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, at Fort Trumbull. (Sarah Gordon/The Day)
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    Students from Bennie Dover Jackson Multi-Magnet Middle School tour the construction site for the New London community and recreation center before a steel-topping ceremony Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, at Fort Trumbull. (Sarah Gordon/The Day)
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    Students from Bennie Dover Jackson Multi-Magnet Middle School sign a beam during a steel-topping ceremony for the New London community and recreation center Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, at Fort Trumbull. (Sarah Gordon/The Day)
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    New London City Councilor Reona Dyess speaks during a steel-topping ceremony for the city’s new community and recreation center Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, at Fort Trumbull. (Sarah Gordon/The Day)
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    New London ― Three years ago, Felix Reyes, director of the city’s Office of Planning and Development, and other community leaders met with a group of sixth graders from the Bennie Dover Jackson Multi-Magnet Middle School to hear what was important to them in a community center.

    On Monday, several students from the same school signed the last piece of structural steel to be placed in the unfinished community and recreation center as part of a steel-topping ceremony.

    “Today, we’re standing in the room each and every one of those kids asked for,” Reyes told the crowd of community members and students as they gathered in what will be the facility’s community room. “After that ribbon is cut next summer, you’ll walk in here and see students doing homework. This ground right here also will be a place for seniors to do programming and senior city officials to meet with the community.”

    The ceremony marked the halfway point of construction, Mayor Michael Passero said.

    The 58,000-square-foot center in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood will include a gym, recreation office and classroom spaces, a community lounge and a kitchen. Construction is still on schedule for a summer of 2025 opening, Passero said.

    The project’s initial $30 million price tag, approved by the City Council in 2021, jumped by approximately $10 million as more detailed cost figures emerged. That funding gap was bridged with a combination of state and federal funding. The city was also awarded a $1.2 million grant through the state’s Brownfield Remediation program for pre-construction site work.

    The facility is expected to cost $2 million a year to run with revenue generated by memberships, rental fees and sponsorships.

    “It was kids just like you who helped plan this,” said Council President and middle school teacher Efrain Dominguez Jr. as he addressed the crowd that included his students.

    “I’m so excited that you get to sign that beam and be a part of history,” he said.

    s.gordon@theday.com

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