CLEANUP EFFORT BURNISHES THE SOUTH END

By Jeff Morganteen
Staff Writer - Stamford Advocate

Updated: 07/19/2009 03:18:12 AM EDT

STAMFORD -- An army of yellow shirts descended upon the South End early Saturday and pulled weeds, disposed of old, discarded household appliances and swept the streets of the changing waterfront community.

"I had no idea 250 people were going to show up, and I organized the thing," said Matt Dalio, who initiated the cleanup effort as an associate with Harbor Point. The South End developer led the event, which featured volunteers who wore yellow shirts as they worked.


Carl Kuehner & Scott VanDerHeyden

"When you come out here, and you see all the yellow shirts walking through the community, there's a sense of camaraderie," Dalio said.

South End residents and community members met Saturday morning to clean up their neighborhood. They cleared litter, placed plants along streets and fixed fences in an attempt to beautify the industrial and residential community, which is slated for an even bigger overhaul. It's the site of the $3 billion Harbor Point development and its proposed 4,000 housing units, as well as new retail and office space.

Local landscapers offered their services as did dozens of South End residents. Parents and students from Waterside School -- a private elementary school on the West Side that recently proposed constructing a new building in the South End -- and local churches and community centers also pitched in. They met at 8 a.m. and worked until a noon barbecue in the Harbor Point office courtyard at the end of Ludlow Street.

"We're a staple in the community, and we're trying to build a sense of community," Dalio said. "We're building around here, obviously, so we have a stake in the community."

Dalio said the clean-up effort was also a way to mend fences with people who live in the South End. Residents invited crews into their backyards to clear old junk, volunteers said.

"For a long time it hasn't had much attention," Dalio said of the South End, a waterfront peninsula. "It's been neglected. We're trying to give it the attention it deserves."

John DaRosa, a 66-year-old South End resident who lives on Elmcroft Road, caught up with the clean-up work later in the morning. He helped remove a tree and brought its branches to the dump.

He was grateful for a street sweeper provided by concrete and asphalt manufacturer O&G Industries, which has a facility in the South End.

"Even though I started late, I've seen some very clean streets," DaRosa said. "The street sweeper made a big difference."

At 12:30 p.m., Bill Buckley, a chief engineer with Habor Point, mulled over some unfinished clean-up work with other Harbor Point workers. He had to make a few more runs with his truck. He estimates his crews picked up several tons of garbage Saturday.

"We want to make sure we don't want to leave anything on the side of the road," Buckley said. "We're just going to be driving around. We don't have a specific location to go to."

Lisa Joyner-Kendall, a 38-year-old Stamford resident, said her two children, a 6-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter, attend Waterside School. It was exciting for her children to help clean the proposed site where their school may end up, she said.


Cmeijah Donaldson & Renee Joyner

"We're taking an active role in getting it up and ready," Joyner-Kendall said. "I looked at my little 6-year-old, and he had so much joy on his face sweeping up the shrubs over there."