Winooski welcome
Helping the city's college residents feel at home

Katie Colleran | staff editor
kcolleran@smcvt.edu

Instead of focusing on all of the trouble a group of college residents can cause, the city of Winooski is looking to the positive. Winooski has begun a concentrated effort to make the college students living in Spinner Place, an apartment complex downtown, feel like they are a part of the community.

In order to promote their outreach, Winooski hosted a barbecue this fall for the residents of Spinner Place and invited the mayor to introduce himself to the residents. Future events will include pumpkin carving, as well as a concert in the spring to benefit the new Winooski Community Center.

Home sweet home

Jones and Magoon relax in the living room of their apartment. Katie Colleran, photo

Champlain College juniors Amanda Jones and Nichole Magoon have been living at Spinner Place for the last year. Spinner Place is one of the residential options for Champlain students and neither could ask for a better place to live, they say.   

The women enjoy being in a full apartment with a kitchen, two bathrooms and four bedrooms. The location, right along the Winooski River, is just another perk, Jones says.

“I really like the riverwalk, especially in the fall and summer, because in a city it’s a place where you can go and get away,” she says. “And there are lots of great restaurants.”

Spinner Place is on Winooski Falls Way, off the rotary, in downtown Winooski. Though some distance from Champlain, the women know they have it good, Magoon says.

“It’s kind of a hassle getting back and forth, but it’s a nice area with a good sense of community,” she says.

The women appreciate the city's efforts to make them feel more welcome. As counselors in the Spinner Place Residence Hall Council, they act as building liasions between the college and the city of Winooski. In that role, the women are not only looking to create a relationship between the student residents, but also with the city.
“We are looking for a way to give back to them for all they do for us,” Magoon says.

Both have been taking advantage of what the city is offering them. In addition to making use of the downtown area, they attended the barbecue and plan on going to the pumpkin carving.

“At the barbecue we got to meet a lot of officials,” Jones says. “They are really excited to have us here. It’s great.”

By fostering a sense community with their college residents, the city may actually be helping itself by keeping problems at bay, Jones says.

“A lot of small towns wouldn’t want college students, but Winooski is really open to having students,” she says. “They are looking to bring more diversity to the city.”

If Jones and Magoon are any example, Winooski’s methods are working. The women make sure to talk up all the city and Spinner Place offer, Magoon says.

“We tell people that they are missing out,” she says.

Welcome wagon

Spinner Place, built specifically for college students, did not attract the attention of Winooski for any negative reasons. The city just decided the students should be welcomed and informed of all the amenities Winooski offers, says J. Ladd, community development department director. Ladd acts as the contact person for Spinner Place in the city’s offices.

“Downtown Winooski is a happening place, with restaurants, bars, nature areas and the riverwalk,” Ladd says. “We want Winooski as a community and a downtown to be a part of the college experience.”

In addition to all the attractions of the downtown, Spinner Place itself is a great place for college students with its clean, almost luxurious housing, he says.

Residents of Spinner Place enjoy the barbecue Winooski hosted for them. Photo courtesy of James Willette

“The relationship with the city and Spinner Place is a mutual one,” Ladd says. “We want Spinner and Winooski to be attractive places to live.”

Though the city’s outreach is focused on the Champlain College and University of Vermont students in Spinner Place, the city also wants St. Michael’s students to know they are welcome.

“That St. Michael’s students think of Winooski as ‘our town’ is important,” Ladd says. “We want them to be involved in the community.”

With Spinner Place, the city has reassurance that its plan is
working due to the number of residents who attended the barbecue. The students who came really enjoyed themselves and
welcomed the opportunity to meet the mayor. Winooski hopes that this will be the beginning of a long and happy relationship, Ladd says.

“Our goal is that as Burlington and Winooski become community, the students will come back and eventually settle here as family,” he says.

School approval

Champlain College has been housing students at Spinner Place for a year. The school turned to Spinner when looking for a residence building to alleviate a housing crunch and currently have 220 students in Spinner Place, says Lara Scott, assistant director of Student Life.

Spinner Place is located in the heart of dowtown Winooski. Katie Colleran, photo

“Spinner is part of our regular housing program,” she says. “We were looking at options in the Burlington area and Winooski, and decided to go with Spinner.”

Scott is encouraged by Winooski reaching out to Champlain students, especially with specific events like the barbecue, she says.

“I think it’s really important that when students live in a community they are involved,” Scott says. “It is also important that the community wants the students to be involved. This [ outreach] shows the city is open to our students being there.”

With the city’s effort to welcome students comes a new plug for Spinner place.

“We are able to say a lot about the type of living at Spinner Place,” Scott says. “But, now with all these programs happening, that’s a great thing to point out too.”