Newtown will be getting a new community center after the vote passed on April 5. With a total of 1,628 votes for “yes” compared to the 1,205 votes for “no,” residents can now expect a brand-new facility to house academic, creative, and athletic activities for people of all ages.
With a $15 million dollar donation from General Electric [GE], construction is now set to start on the Fairfield Hills Campus near the site of the Newtown Youth Academy. There are plans to create a two pool aquatic center, an area for senior activities, space for private parties, showings, classes, and a facility to accommodate general athletic, creative, and academic functions.
“It was extremely generous for GE to donate so much money. But, I think the most surprising part was how long it took to actually put the money to use,” NHS junior Jillian Pieretti said.
GE originally came up with the idea to donate to Newtown right after the Sandy Hook tragedy, a little more than three years ago. Last year around this same time, the previous community center plan was called off because officials did not feel it accurately represented what residents wanted at the time. But now, after a few changes and a new committee to help with community outreach, the latest version of the community center has been completed.
“We [Newtown] have a sports place that kids can go to, but we don’t really have any extracurricular locations, so we [GE] all agreed that it would be a good idea for GE to donate a youth center and we went back and met with our chairman again in another meeting and he said ‘Ok, we’ll donate $10 million for the construction and then another $5 million for 5 years of operating costs,” GE’s Olympics and Sports Marketing Director Chris Katsuleres said. Katsuleres is also my father.
The idea of this community center is to provide a space for all residents to participate in extracurricular activities but, besides that, it also helps bring everyone together as a town.
“The whole notion of the youth center I think still makes a lot of sense. It gives a place for kids to go, but I also think it’s beneficial for the town as a whole because it can support all age groups and really unite everyone,” Katsuleres said.
The actual facility will not be built anytime soon, as construction has not yet started, but passing the vote was step one in the right direction. This idea has been three years in the making and now it has evolved into more than just an idea, it will be a part of the Newtown community, something at least 1,628 people will be very happy about.
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