INVITATION TO LAUNCH
Please Join
Mayor Justin Elicker
and the
Ethnic Heritage Center Team
for a
Grand Grand Opening of the Grand Avenue
Walk New Haven: Cultural Heritage Tour
Monday, May 9, 2022 at 11 am
(Rain date Wednesday, May 11 at 11 am)
Lenzi Park
(between Grand and St. John’s Street on Jefferson Street)
Old Grand Avenue, between State Street and East Street, 1820-1970 tells the story of a formerly vibrant part of town that provided housing (crowded tenements) and jobs for successive waves of immigrants. The neighborhood declined as highway construction and Urban Renewal caused residents to move away and left gaping holes in the neighborhood fabric. Sites on the tour include remnants of a strong commercial area that served the neighborhood and beyond including grocers, clothing stores, movie theaters, the New Haven Boy’s Club (in the building that currently houses L.E.A.P) that provided after school activities for neighborhood children, the Clock Factory that provided employment, Lillian’s Paradise Restaurant established in the late 1940s by Lillian Lumpkin, an African American woman, and former community anchors including the Artizan Street School, Congregation Mogen David and St. Patrick’s Church.