Teen Helps Community Center Secure New Elevator

New Haven, Connecticut’s Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) unanimously approved a plan to install a new elevator that was partly written and presented by 18-year-old New Haven Public Schools graduate and legal intern Ethan Masoperh, the New Haven Independent reports. The new elevator will be installed at the Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership (LEAP) community center on Jefferson Street. The BZA approved three exceptions to normal building rules for LEAP’s building at 29 – 31 Jefferson Street, which allow the building to take up 85% of the lot, to be only 5 ft, 6 in. from the side property line and to have a side wall height of 44 ft. These exceptions allow for the New Haven Housing Authority and LEAP to install a Schindler 3300 machine-room-less traction elevator that will serve all three floors and the roof of the century-old building. Designed by Kenneth Boroson Architects, the new elevator is part of broader renovations that aim to make the building fully Americans with Disabilities Act accessible and improve access to youth programs in the Wooster Square neighborhood.