New London community center site an opportunity for budding builders
August 24, 2023 4:31 pm
• Last Updated: August 24, 2023 7:41 pm
New London ― Besides the promise of new recreational offerings, the community center construction project will offer a rare chance to connect with young residents even before the facility’s doors open, city officials said.
With up to two years of work ahead on the city’s largest project, there’s plenty of time to use the Fort Trumbull-area building site as a sort of real-time construction classroom, said Felix Reyes, director of New London’s Office of Planning and Development.
“I’m a kid from New London who grew up loving construction and I think how excited I’d have been to have that opportunity to go down to that site and walk around,” he said on Thursday. “I put myself in the shoes of those kids that love building design, those future electricians, plumbers and architects.”
Reyes said he’s already started reaching out to school and union officials to coordinate tours of the site as soon as the facility walls begin going up.
“This is a once-in-a-generation building project and we can let these kids, these thousands of bright minds, walk the site and see what’s going on behind the walls,” he said. “And we want people and groups who’ll be using the center to come down, too, and see the inside of that building ahead of time.”
Council President Reona Dyess this month said