Hamden Upgrades Keefe Parking Lot

Both parents and town officials are heralding the completion of parking improvements at the Margaret L. Keefe Community Center along Pine Street.

The improvements were needed to aid parents, grandparents and caregivers who drop children off at the center and pick them up for daycare programs, according to town officials.

The renovations to the parking lot resulted in new parking spaces, which will help relieve problems with illegal parking and safety issues involving pedestrians who walk in the area of the Pine Street center, town officials say. 

Those improvements include new curb cuts that adhere to the Americans with Disabilities Act, new sidewalks and new curbing, and a new ADA rams for emergency exiting from the building, according to center officials. Community Development Program Manager Chris Marchand coordinated the project.

And already many have said how the improvements have made it easier, according to Sally Nutcher, Childcare Director of Hamden Youth Services.

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"Parents have mentioned to me that it is much easier, safer and saves them time," she said. We have many grandparents transporting the children, and this helps them out a lot. The parents are really happy with the new parking spaces.” 

The cost of the renovations was paid by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant.

"The primary objective of Hamden’s CDBG Program is to provide decent housing, a suitable living environment, and to expand economic opportunities for low and moderate income people in the designated target areas of Hamden," according to a press release from Mayor Scott Jackson's office.