Need for a kid-centric NL Community Center is greater than ever

Kevin Ollie, former player and coach at UConn, on his strategy for imparting constructive criticism: "First you bring the sugar," he said, "then you bring the hot sauce."

And so today's metaphorical sugar starts with New London mayor Mike Passero and his passion for delivering a new community center to the city. Passero long ago identified the potency, potential and influence of such a project. He ought to be the first one handed the scissors during the ribbon cutting.

But he and others must understand that the pinch of sugar here comes with a quart of hot sauce.

City officials need to grasp the drastically changing circumstances of the city and tailor the community center to their evolution. Translation: Our children, for many reasons, are more rudderless than ever. They need something. They need a place. They need a reason. They just ... need. And their needs are far greater and more dire at the moment than anyone else in the 06320.

To wit: Last month, Passero, superintendent of schools Cynthia Ritchie and Board of Education president Elaine Maynard-Adams wrote an op-ed piece here in The Day outlining the burgeoning struggles of the kids in the city. They, even if unwittingly, underscored the need for a kid-centric community center with perpetual transportation options and kid-suggested programming that will keep their attention.

"In the fall of 2021, New London Public Schools (NLPS) welcomed our students back, and for some this was the first time in a classroom in almost two years," they wrote. "Coming into a structured environment has presented many challenges as both students and staff adjust to a new normal, a normal that for many is defined by the struggles and trauma they have been experiencing.

"The reality is that many in our community are struggling with employment, housing, food, isolation, mental health, and a deep fear of contracting COVID-19 and possibly death.

"In our community, New London has seen homeless families triple in numbers, reports of abuse and neglect increase, drug overdoses expand, and physical violence has escalated alarmingly. Our middle and high school-age children are dealing with physical and emotional growth while at the same time managing their classroom studies and the chal

lenges that come along with social media inundation, misinformation and bullying.

"To address the needs of our students and staff, the school district has added additional guidance counselors and social workers, wellness interventionists, and other mental health professionals who not only work with students who are struggling but provide support to the families as well."

Their words deeply conveyed the idea that a kid-centric community center is a natural extension of existing efforts to both fuel the coping process and provide a systemic answer.

COVID's pervasive tentacles have punctuated every corner of society. But none greater than the kids. That's why this project needs to be a haven of the kids, for the kids and by the kids. They need to be sought after earnestly and consulted about what they want in the new building. This must graduate from lip service and false hustle to methodical and thorough. Talk to the kids. As many as possible.

My greatest fear: The kids will be paid lip service. Their wants and needs will be given cursory attention, drowned by all the other noise surrounding the project. This is New London, remember.

Admittedly, there are a number of issues. Some factions don't like the location in Fort Trumbull. Some wonder who will maintain the building, what it would cost and who pays for it. Some wonder if the original $30 million price tag is still plausible. Some wonder about funding and whether operating costs, an estimated $2.1 million per year, can be funded through membership and rental income. I wonder about programming: Who creates it? Who runs it? Are they paid? By whom? From where?

People want details and specifics. Understandable. Except that the answers to all those questions are irrelevant if this community center serves anyone else but the people it must. I am not suggesting there isn't a place for seniors, professionals and other residents. But the kids must be the priority here. Must. Because they've never needed it more.

I'd suggest, for example, more basketball courts than the two proposed. The ECC's summer and fall basketball leagues have been nomadic in recent years (Gales Ferry, New London, Norwich). Here is a chance to play all the games in one place, not to mention host AAU Tournaments. They pay rent, you know.

I'd also suggest a gaming room similar to the one at the high school, where competitive, multi-user video games keep kids occupied, engaged and communicating.

Bottom line: It's easy to blather about the importance of serving our children in the best way possible. Fact is, children are almost always the voiceless, more useful rhetorically than practically. That can't happen here.

I am begging the leaders of this city. You have questions to answer. But this must be kid-centric. Life is getting harder for them. The kids need you.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro