CSI's $80M dorm plan hits a snag
State agency that controls the
property says it will not give it up
Staten Island Advance - Sunday, January 22, 2006
The College of Staten Island's proposal to expand
classrooms and build student housing on land adjacent to its
Willowbrook campus is being flatly opposed by the state agency that
controls the property, but school officials have vowed to continue
their pursuit.
Last month, CSI unveiled an $80 million conceptual
plan to construct residency halls on a portion of state-owned land,
currently occupied by buildings and vacant property under the
jurisdiction of the state Office of Mental Retardation and
Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD).
That announcement led to a heated debate between a
college trying to expand its services and a passionate people
determined to preserve the legacy of the former Willowbrook State
School.
But OMRDD spokeswoman Deborah Sturm Rausch said the
agency has no plans to give up any of its land or buildings.
Ultimately, she said, such a proposal would need approval from the
State Dormitory Authority following extensive land surveys, the
creation of a local task force and multiple public hearings.
"We have no intention to enter into such an ordeal,"
she said Friday. "As far as we're concerned, the matter is over."
As far as CSI officials are concerned, the plan --
although admittedly still in its infancy -- is viable.
"We believe that we have an extraordinary
opportunity for CSI and the disabilities community, and for Staten
Island overall," said Robert Huber, CSI's communications director,
in response to the state spokeswoman's comments. "At the moment, we
are engaged in the process of defining the concept of student
housing on the CSI campus. We could follow the conventional approach
of constructing dormitories for students at the campus that would
mirror the basic way student residences are done at virtually all
other colleges.
"However, we also would like to explore a broader,
more progressive and innovative use of residential housing that
would benefit not only our students but people with special needs,
as well," he continued, reiterating that the plan calls for units
for OMRDD's clients.
Despite Ms. Sturm Rausch's statements and CSI's own
admissions that the plan is only in the preliminary stages, some of
the same advocates who rallied for the closure of Willowbrook are
picking up the fight to protect the history of a place once called a
"snake pit" by Sen. Robert F. Kennedy for the deplorable conditions
it forced on its developmentally disabled residents.
Many consider the land sacred.
"We stake claim to this because of the legacy of
Willowbrook," said Donna Long, past chairwoman of the Staten Island
Developmental Disabilities Council.
A PowerPoint demonstration shown at the Dec. 22
announcement revealed preliminary plans for CSI to build on a
10-acre plot behind the Arts Center, but also on the adjacent OMRDD
property.
CSI president Dr. Marlene Springer said the
construction would also include the off-campus relocation of the
Elizabeth Connelly Resource Center with the building being turned
over by OMRDD to the college for classroom space.
A SHOCK TO MANY
The Connelly Center has been home to recreational and educational
programs for the developmentally disabled for more than 20 years and
even the discussion of its relocation opened old wounds among
advocates who fear all that's left of Willowbrook -- which used to
encompass the whole of the CSI and OMRDD property -- might
disappear.
Plus, the way the announcement was made sent a
shockwave throughout the membership of the Disabilities Council, who
claim they first learned of CSI's plan when they read about it in
the Advance.
The proposal pitted the advocacy group against the
college administration in a war of words over what's best for both
and how -- and if -- the two can work collaboratively.
But while the dividing line is clear, the answers
are murky, partly because it took the two sides nearly a month to
sit down together following the announcement. Also upset by the plan
are residents living in the area around CSI, particularly members of
the congregation at Young Israel of Staten Island.
The PowerPoint presentation indicated a possible
relocation of the synagogue's baseball field, which is also on the
state land.
THE PLAN UNFOLDS
CSI's administration first began exploring the idea of building
housing two years ago as it watched the student body grow at levels
unanticipated when the college moved from Sunnyside to the bucolic
Willowbrook campus in 1993.
They also found themselves repeatedly answering this
question from perspective students: "Can you show us your dorms?"
with "We don't have any," according to Angelo Aponte, vice president
for finance and administration.
An on-line feasibility study conducted in October
2004 by the Washington, D.C.-based facility planning firm Braislford
& Dunlavey revealed CSI students -- even those within the borough's
zip codes -- would like to live on-campus. It also concluded the
plot behind the Arts Center was one-third of the land needed to
construct garden-style, market-rate units for 900 students.
CSI officials sent the study's results to OMRDD for
review and asked if the state agency would consider allowing the
school to build on its vacant land, Aponte said.
'NOTHING IN STONE'
Since their initial announcement, CSI's administration has cautioned
that while they are committed to building dorms, the plan is
malleable.
"There is nothing written in stone," Aponte said in
recent interview with the Advance. "There isn't a document, there
isn't an agreement, there isn't a handshake. Only conversations,
discussions and thinking out loud. A trial balloon."
Ms. Sturm Rausch, the OMRDD spokeswoman,
acknowledged that CSI approached the agency, but said "something
like this would never be entered into without having input and
dialogue with the parents and the family members."
CSI's preliminary plan includes housing units for
OMRDD's consumers, an idea initiated by the agency's commissioner,
Aponte said.
There were also discussions with the state about
creating additional services to include continuing education for
professionals serving people with disabilities and classroom and
employment opportunities for the developmentally disabled, said
David Podell, provost and senior vice president for academic
affairs.
CSI also hopes to build a "significant" memorial to
Willowbrook, possibly in a museum-type setting. All this, Podell
said, will take place even if housing is never constructed.
"This could be the very first ever integration of
housing in a dorm setting," Podell said. "It honors Willowbrook, the
school. There will be a physical memorial, but this will be a living
memorial."
TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE
But the talk of partnerships and integrated services is too little,
too late, according to Council members, who said that CSI has a
history of ignoring Willowbrook's past while making similar unkept
promises.
"They're tossing a bone," said Jacqueline Rumolo,
Disabilities Council chairwoman. "These types of things should have
been done over the last 20 years. They've said it before and they
haven't done it."
Aponte understood that reaction.
"They're absolutely correct in their assessment of
the past, but should that be a bar to the future?" he asked.
Part of the recent troubles between CSI and the
Disabilities Council stemmed from the way the college announced its
plans. It appears one canceled meeting led to a series of scheduling
conflicts around the holidays that culminated in the newspaper story
before the Council knew what was in the works.
"Do you know how alarmed people have become?" Mrs.
Rumolo asked. "Everyone is scurrying around asking questions and
calling, wanting to know why we don't know anything about this. Dr.
Springer could have invited me, but that didn't happen."
CSI apologized for the miscommunications.
"If we dropped the ball, we dropped the ball, but
it's a 9-inning game and we're in the first inning," Aponte said.
Mrs. Rumolo was finally able to air her concerns
last week in a "cordial and friendly" meeting with Podell.
"We're in an advocacy role and we will not allow the
takeover of this property," Mrs. Rumolo said. "I am hoping he has an
open mind and tries to listen to the people and tries to understand
what the disabilities community is all about and what this land is
all about."
OTHERS AFFECTED
Council members are not the only group impacted by the potential of
student housing rising on CSI's campus.
In early December, a flier which was created and
distributed anonymously made its way into the mailboxes -- and
sometimes stuffed into the Advance -- of residents living in the CSI
area.
It claimed CSI was "secretly" planning to build dorm
rooms and the members of the "community have been excluded from the
planning process and denied a voice in the use of this property."
Janet Cabat, a Dorothy Street resident, found the
flier in her mailbox.
"I got very angry right away," she said. "We have
been talking on the Island for a very long time about the
overcrowding, especially on our streets. Forest Hill Road is
incredible. Sometimes you can wait two or three minutes to find a
break in the cars just to get across.
"I am also concerned about having students around
the neighborhood all day and all night," she continued. "All day is
one thing, but the nighttime presents a different kind of problem."
By Stephanie Slepian
Reprinted here with permission
from the
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