owner how a standard bathroom could be located
in one of the apartments which had previously con-
tained no bathroom. The tenants had had to use a
toilet and handbasin across the hall.

The principle that is followed generally for floor
plans is to ask the more experienced rehabilitators
to bring in their own floor plans, which the staff ar-
chitect will approve or mark for changes. However,
if decidedly better work can be assured through the
architect's redesigning the entire floor plan, this is
done. Examples of this are shown in the case his-
tories for 111-13 Wooster Street, 197-99 Wooster
Street, and 93 Lyon Street.

Progress on the rehabilitation of each property is
followed-up every four to six weeks by the appropri-
ate staff members. When the work is completed, the
architect and specialist examine and approve the
work.

To crown the achievement of a completed property,
a ceremony is arranged at which time Mayor Lee pre-
sents each homeowner with an official certificate of
performance. Later on, the owner also receives a
photograph of himself receiving his certificate from
the mayor.

The field office has printed literature on building
materials, suppliers' manuals, and samples available
for reference by the public at its Technical Aid Cen-
ter — a kind of library of rehabilitation materials.
Informational pamphlets, written by agency staff, on
financing, contractor procedure, maintenance, de-
sign, fences, and assessments are on display and
distributed to the homeowners.

Mayor Richard C. Lee with a group of Wooster Square property owners and staff members at one of the ceremonies at which Certificates of Performance for rehabilitation completed were given. Ted DeLauro, Neighborhood Representative, is shown standing extreme left, Gene Lubocki, Rehabilitation Specialist, standing fifth from the right, Mary Hommann, Project Director, standing third from the right, and Charles Hildebrand, Rehabilitation Architect, standing extreme right.

CITY OF NEW HAVEN
and
THE WOODSTER SQUARE NEIGHBORHOOD RENEWAL COMMITTEE

In recognition of the successful completion of the rehabilitation
of the property in the Woodster Square Environmental Area located at

61 BROWN STREET

the City of New Haven is happy to present the owner

SOPHIA POZZULLI
with this honor

CERTIFICATE OF PERFORMANCE

Certificate of Performance

## Columbus Mall Houses

In the design of the Columbus Mall houses the architect was instructed to keep to a certain minimum cost inasmuch as these homes were to serve a segment of the population not being served by public housing or the private market. Financing for these cooperative homes was to be done under FHA 221-(d)3 of the National Housing Act. The program worked out between the City and the sponsor called for row houses of three sizes — a more-or-less equal number of two- and three-bedroom units and a few four-bedroom units. Each row house was to be two stories with a private basement or ground level storage area. Each house was to have a private patio overlooking a common landscaped area. There was to be one parking space for each unit, and driveways and parking areas were to be entirely separate from the landscaped area, although readily accessible by foot to the units they served.

The original site (later enlarged) was that shown in Site Plan A. All site plans shown were developed by the architect. After each submission there were consultations with the City architect and lawyer and changes requested. Site Plan B was based partly on the idea of moving two existing houses, one on Brown Street and one on Warren Street, into the rights-of-way to form attractive visual stops at the ends of these closed streets. The house moving plan had to be eliminated because of excessive costs, but it was at this point that this site was extended across Warren Street as shown on Site Plan C. Site Plans C through F included vehicular openings on Wooster Street on center into the body of the site. This was considered much improved in the final

Site Plan A

Site Plan B

Site Plan C

Site Plan D

Site Plan E

Site Plan F

Chapter 15: Grand Avenue

As we have seen, Grand Avenue is a strip shopping street that cuts through Wooster Square and continues as an arterial route to Fair Haven. Before renewal the buildings were for the most part soot-blackened brick structures, three or four stories in height, one just adjacent to the other for the length of the street. Their great bulk covered virtually the whole of their sites, except for a few incongruous little frame houses intersperced here and there, with their first floor store fronts extended to the street line. The street was narrow for such a well-traveled artery — 50 feet, with nine-foot sidewalks, leaving only 32 feet of roadway. To some, Grand Avenue had an oppressive atmosphere — the bleak, crowded-together buildings seemed to loom like sentinels, giving a closed-in feeling. To others it had an intensely urban atmosphere, a built-up-facade quality to be preserved, as long as the street could not be wholly cleared. To everyone it was a gloomy slum, in drastic need of renewal.

In the 1957 Renewal Plan, the section of Grand Avenue west of the proposed elevated highway (about 1200 feet in length) was shown with four parking lots, six new buildings, and 24 buildings to remain. (See Plan A.) Inasmuch as it would have been contrary to the goal of returning Wooster Square to a residential neighborhood to clear the north side of St. John Street and the south side of Lyon Street for rear-access-commercial parking, it was considered necessary to confine all improvements for Grand Avenue to land fronting the avenue itself.

In July, 1961 the plan was revised to include acquisition and demolition of five additional deteriorated buildings, and a scheme was worked out whereby the four public parking lots could be used as loading areas for the existing buildings as well. Most of the stores-to-remain were furniture stores which required the use of large trailer trucks. Through the use of easements over rear property lines, trucks would be able to reach the rear of almost all stores, entering all sites front first, circling around to the loading platforms, and leaving front first, as well. (See Plan B.)

Plan C developed out of unexpected private purchases and development by existing merchants, as well as the wishes of a few merchants to own their

Plan A

Plan B

Plan C

14. 98 Olive Street, Washington Cleaners, owner-occupant, commercial, no mortgage, 1959 assessment: $28,645, 1963 assessment: $31,050.

Estimated Rehabilitation Improvement — $65,700

- Wall brick replacement

- Wall cover-siding

- Wall painting and trim

- Window replacement

- Porch and step replacement

- New entrances

- Decorative features

- Interior alteration, extensive

- Cleaning and laundromat equipment.

The owner of this business received the rehabilitation staff warmly and was anxious to work out his ideas for improvement with them. He wanted to enlarge his business beyond the drycleaning portion by adding a coin-operated laundromat. He completely reorganized his operation within the building and worked with our structural expert and architect on all changes. He now has a good-sized and decent looking parking lot and is running a desirable neighborhood business in a satisfactory fashion.

Before

Proposal

After

During Rehabilitation

88