September 29, 1996 Sunday

NORTH END TURNAROUND:

MIDDLETOWN'S MAIN STREET AREA IS BETTER AND A BARGAIN

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By Jonathan Dube
Special to The Courant

MIDDLETOWN - AT FIRST GLANCE, the North End hardly seems like a neighborhood for raising a family. On a typical day, rowdy youths swagger along a Main Street once known for its drug trade and gang turf wars.

Smart prospective homeowners, however, have begun looking beyond the area's tarnished reputation and have found that the area has become quite safe and that good deals abound.

In recent years, the combined efforts of community activists and city officials have helped reduce crime, clean up the neighborhood, and bring a new cohesiveness to the community.

And so, while it's been difficult for the North End to shake its image as unsafe and unsightly, that very reputation ultimately may be its salvation. With that reputation comes lower property values, which means lower rents for store owners and relative bargains for prospective homeowners.

In 1995, for example, the median price of single-family homes sold in Middletown was $132,500 and the median price per square foot was $85.81, according to Tom Abbate of Prudential Connecticut Realty. In the North End, however, the median price was just $93,500 and the median price per square foot was $58.31.

Many of the North End homes are two- and three-story colonials, built around the turn of the century on small lots. Some need relatively minor repairs, such as new window frames, but by and large they are in good condition, Abbate said.

"For the square footage and for getting a roof over your head, you can get something very reasonable in the North End for under $100,000," Abbate said. "For that price you would expect a house that needs a lot of work, and that's not the case."

For that reason, Abbate said, the market in the North End has been picking up. Already eight single- family homes have been sold this year, matching last year's total.

"People who never before dreamed they could own their own home are finding they can get a very good house," he said. "And there have been so many efforts to improve and promote the North End that people are saying, 'Hey, it's a good place to live.' "

Trenton and Heather Hesslink did just that. Moving to Middletown from South Carolina, they bought a four-bedroom, two-story colonial with 1,536 square feet for $94,000 in April.

"It just seemed like a really good deal," Heather Hesslink said.

The Hesslinks, who have a 15- month-old son, were not very concerned about crime because their house is in the North End's residential section, several blocks west of the more urban Main Street.

Even downtown, though, concerns about safety have lessened in the past four years as police have cracked down on gangs and drugs. As a result, the district, which in 1991 was the second-worst, now ranks in the middle of the city's six police districts.

Yet the perception of the North End as a dangerous neighborhood persists.

Police Chief George Aylward attributes this in part to the density of the North End. In contrast to the tree-lined residential neighborhoods just a few blocks west, many of the people in the Main Street area live in apartments above stores.

"In most residential neighborhoods people have back yards," Aylward said "But for these people, the street is their back yard and their front porch. So when they're hanging out in the street, they're really just sitting on their front porch. But people perceive that as loitering and intimidating. It gives a whole other flavor to the neighborhood."

Based on school enrollment, the North End's population is fairly fluid, although the total number of residents is constant. Thirty-eight percent of students at the Commodore Macdonough Elementary School were new last year. The principal, Pamela Muraco, attributes that to the high number of people renting homes in the area. At the same time, the school's enrollment has remained steady at about 275.

The Macdonough School has remained in good condition since being renovated in 1987. After the fifth grade, North End children attend the same schools as other city students: the Keigwin School for sixth grade, the Woodrow Wilson Middle School and Middletown High School. The district has 4,600 students.

The school system stands up fairly well to comparable school districts in the state. Typically, 70 percent of Middletown High School's graduates go on to college.

Wilson Middle School was named one of three outstanding middle schools by the Connecticut Association of Schools in 1995-96. And Superintendent David Larson touts a program for gifted or simply ambitious students, which allows high school juniors and seniors to take college-level courses at nearby Wesleyan University and Middlesex Community College.

When school is not in session, children can play in the playground on Ferry Street or attend summer camp at the Macdonough School. The nearest park is Veterans Memorial Park, which is a short drive away and includes a swimming pool.

The neighborhood west of Main Street is primarily residential, although it does include Aresco's Market and a few other small shops. Business in the North End centers on Main Street, where an unusual blend of traditional shops and new specialty stores has made the area a commercial success in recent years.

The anchor businesses of the area include Ortiz Spanish American Groceries, the New Asian Foodmart and O'Rourke's Diner, which has been serving truckers and local residents its homemade bread since 1941.

Newer business successes include Books and Beyond, a "new age" novelty store; It's Only Natural, a health-food store with a companion restaurant; and Eli Cannon's, a bar and restaurant with 25 beers on tap and a steady out-of- town clientele.

Mark Masselli, the president of the Community Health Center and a North End activist, said the small, entrepreneurial stores are flourishing because they have found niches and were able to build a steady customer base.

As a result, most of the storefronts north of Washington Street are filled.

"There used to be a substantial turnover," said Larry McHugh, president of the Greater Middlesex Chamber of Commerce. "But in the last few years, the businesses have been very strong."

The city is also working on a $4 million plan to revitalize the North End Industrial Area, a 40-acre stretch along North Main Street, extending from the bridge to the landfill. The city hopes to clean up the area by demolishing some old structures and by buying and renovating others for resale.

"This ought to improve the property values of the whole area," Municipal Development Director William Kuehn said. "Hopefully, this will rejuvenate the area and give the community a better sense of pride."