What Does GE's $15 Million Gift Mean for Newtown?

On Monday, Nov. 18, the town of Newtown received what may be a game-changing gift from General Electric: $15 million to build a community center in town and operate it for the first five years of its existence.

But the town didn't hear that day about the behind-the-scenes work that went into the donation. In April, Newtown's 150 GE employees met at GE's world headquarters in Fairfield for a brainstorming session on what the company could do for the town. Led by GE Capital Vice President and CIO Martha Poulter, the team tried to answer the question: what longstanding need in Newtown could the company satisfy? Officials didn't share which other ideas were floated at the meeting, but they eventually settled on presenting First Selectman Pat Llodra with the concept of a community center.

The town's Capital Improvement Plan has included a community center for at least six years, and has been talked about for nearly a decade.

"But the funds were beyond our scope," Llodra said. "We knew we were going to have to struggle mightily to make headway."

Poulter took the plans to General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt, laying out the case for a multi-million-dollar donation in phases for a standalone facility.

"The reality is, having a place where people could come together makes a lot of sense in terms of recovery," said Anne Alzapeidi. "We have a lot of wonderful services in town, but the GE employees felt this would be a good opportunity."

Alzapeidi herself is part of GE's contribution to Newtown's recovery effort. The company footed the bill to provide assistants for the Selectman's office, the Board of Education and other town offices to cope with increased workloads after Dec. 14.

'We'll Clearly Need to Call In Professionals'

Llodra envisions the facility at Fairfield Hills, and suggests a place where "seniors can play mah-jongg, the youngsters can learn to swim, and teens can have their space." While the planning stage hasn't begun yet, she anticipates the building may result in a shift in headquarters for multiple government services.

"Certainly Parks and Recreation would move into a community center — their role would be to run that community center," she said. "It is possible that Social Services goes that way also, but it's more likely that it could go to the senior center. But this is all just speculative — I need to let the planning process go forth."

The Newtown Police Station, Emergency Communication Center, Parks and Recreation and Social Services all share space at Town Hall South, a single 12,000-square-foot building at 3 Main St. A former tractor barn, the building has recently become the impetus for a grassroots fundraising push to provide a new police station for the town.

"My own personal and professional worry is we are timebound in our thinking and stuck in our use of Town Hall South," Llodra said. "We have four critical uses coming out of that one building. Those four uses demand spaces and facilities and technology beyond what that building's able to provide. It's inadequate. I recognized that years ago when I first got on the Legislative Council. We can't do anything with that building to improve it enough."

Llodra said some residents have asked her if the town could use the money to demolish an existing building. She said it's out of the question.

"GE has made it very clear their goal is to help us create something, not destroy something," she said.

For the past month and a half, members of the town's Commission on Aging and Parks and Recreation have been meeting informally to discuss the first phase of the facility, with Bob Jekyll and Andrew Clure as community representatives. Now that the donation is public knowledge, the process will formally begin.

"We'll clearly need to call in professionals," Llodra said.

And while the town doesn't need a referendum to accept the money, it may need to hold one to use it for its intended purpose. After the community center has gone through all necessary government channels, Newtown residents may have an opportunity to vote on the project.

"That's going to have to come down the line at some point," Llodra said. She added she would need to consult with the town's attorney before affirming with certainty about any future referendum.

No timeline has yet been established for the process.

Correction: A previous edition of this story said the GE team met at Fairfield University. They met at GE's world headquarters in Fairfield.