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We the people who live in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood are heartened by the recent announcement that the City has decided to save the Italian Dramatic Club. We view this as a significant step in preserving the cultural diversity of our historic neighborhood.

We call upon the City Council and New London Development Corporation to sit down with us, the residents of Fort Trumbull, in a sincere effort to reach a plan of action that is acceptable to all of us. We cherish this neighborhood and its proud history and we are optimistic that we can allow progress and preserve our historic past.

Susette wanted to hammer the NLDC. Mitchell suggested using the Italian club decision as a basis to demand equal treatment.

Susette wanted to bash Levin. “He went there and he assured them that nothing was going to happen to that building,” she said.

Mitchell couldn’t believe Susette had walked into the Italian men’s club unannounced. She encouraged her to avoid accusations in the letter. Susette trusted Mitchell. She had her deliver the letter to her house, and Susette signed it as chairperson of the Fort Trumbull Neighborhood Association and sent it to the city council and the NLDC. “If they’re willing to work with the IDC,” she said, “maybe they’ll work with us.”

Mitchell had another idea: a petition. She already had a draft, and she showed it to Susette. It read: “We, the undersigned, support the efforts of the Coalition to Save the Fort Trumbull Neighborhood to amend the Municipal Development Plan to save a majority of the residential neighborhood and business at Fort Trumbull.”

By securing signatures from 5 percent of the city’s registered voters, the coalition could force the city to hold a referendum on whether the homes in Fort Trumbull should be demolished or preserved.

Susette liked it. She offered her home as headquarters for the petition drive. Mitchell worked with the coalition to organize a vigil on East Street. On the first night, dozens showed up. Clipboards and pencils rested on tables on the sidewalk in front of Susette’s house. The next night, even more people showed up. Lines of residents outside Susette’s home got longer each night.

Not to be outdone, Claire organized her own petition, titled, “Citizens in Favor of New London Development.” Claire and members of the NLDC began soliciting signatures. Pfizer president George Milne put his signature on the petition first.

Claire had more clout than Susette and attracted signatures from influential people who had prestigious titles. But Susette had a groundswell of everyday people behind her and got far more people to sign her petitions. Once she and the coalition had more than enough signatures to satisfy the city’s legal requirements, the coalition presented the petitions to the city clerk for certification. The clerk forwarded them to attorney Tom Londregan for review.

27

LINE IN THE SAND

September 28, 2000

When Mayor Beachy gathered with coalition members on Susette’s street for a morning prayer vigil, he felt good about the number of signatures on the petitions that had been submitted to City Hall. While the city reviewed the petitions, the coalition kept close tabs on the permit process, and the NLDC still hadn’t secured permits to demolish any structures on Susette’s block. At the end of the vigil, Fred Paxton’s wife, Sylvia, assured the group she had called City Hall first thing that morning. “No houses are coming down today,” she reported.

At the end of the prayer service, the group agreed to go elsewhere for coffee. After coffee, the mayor’s wife, Sandy, had a hunch. “Let’s drive back through the Fort,” she told him.

The mayor agreed.

Wearing a sleeveless flannel shirt that showcased his massive arms, Chico Barberi maneuvered the jaws of his excavator toward the corner of a house at the top of East Street. An NLDC official in a hard hat stood behind the excavator, directing Barberi which homes to demolish. Susette, Von Winkle, Matt Dery, and other neighbors stood near the excavator, shouting