Shortly more than a week after the Committee for Residential Living at St. Paul's sent out cards requesting the residential support and input on the proposal for the historic building, the chairman of the committee, Mortimer Chute is declaring the direct mailing a success, indicating that 93.6 percent of the responses have been in favor of the building being used for a senior residential retirement center. As of press time, 17 percent of the cards have been returned, an extraordinary response for any type of direct mail.

The Committee for Residential Living at St. Paul's is a grassroots committee, begun within the last several months based upon the foundation of maintaining the integrity of the St. Paul's building, as well utilizing it as a residential retirement facility. A large part of their role in the process is to try to promote these ideas within the village and this direct mailing is one of the methods they have developed in order to do this.

With the response card, the committee mailed a letter to every household in the village outlining the history of the site and defining a senior residential retirement center as, "a residential complex where seniors from our village- family, friends, and neighbors of us all- can remain a part of our community while maintaining a sense of independence and dignity in their lives." The letter then outlines the benefits that the plan for a residential retirement center would bring to the village including: preserving the main St. Paul's building at no cost to the taxpayers, keeping the structure compatible with the surrounding residential area, providing initial capital revenue to the village of approximately $1.5-2 million, providing additional revenue in lieu of taxes, and allowing the continued use of the field house, Cluett Hall and more than 38 recreational acres by Garden City residents. The committee has a section in the letter describing the lawsuit that is currently preventing the village from leasing the building to a private developer. The committee concluded the letter by asking residents to share their opinions with their friends, neighbors and village leaders and asks them to return the enclosed response card, indicating whether they are in favor of the proposal and asking for any additional comments.

Just over a week after the cards were sent out, the committee has received 1,192 responses in favor of the residential retirement center, 76 against it and nine with no opinion. According to Chute, approximately 40 of the people who responded positively have said that they themselves would be interested in living in such a facility. The negative comment that was repeated in approximately four of the responses was that the poll was biased. Chute said that at no time did the committee claim to be impartial.

According to Chute the number of responses are evenly distributed from throughout the village. This pleases him because that gives a broader idea of how the village as a whole feels about the proposal, not just how one section of the village feels.

"My feeling on the response is that it is as clear a mandate as conceivable that the populace, the residents of Garden City, feel extremely strongly about maintaining the St. Paul's building, the establishment of a residential retirement living facility in that building, the continuation of the 38+ acres of recreation and athletic fields and the vast expense, time, trouble and confusion caused the village by the lawsuit," said Chute.

Although he did expect a prompt response to the mailing, Chute was surprised by the number of responses that came so quickly. "I thought that we would be doing extraordinarily well when the whole thing is over to get between 10-12 percent of the village responding. That is a tremendous response and we're at 17 percent now."

Two major themes that have come up in the majority of the responses, according to Chute, are that the property should not be used at major expense to the village and the hope that Garden City residents would have first priority in securing apartments. Those who responded negatively to the proposal made suggestions such as putting a museum in the building, or a brand new state-of-the-art high school, or tearing down the building and having all open space.

According to Chute, several of the responses, whether they be positive or negative, included criticism of the governmental procedures of the village over the last few years, indicating that the village officials have wasted the taxpayers' money and dragged their feet on implementing a plan for St. Paul's. Chute noted that these responses make it clear that when the lawsuit is settled, the various official and unofficial elements of the village who are involved must get together and come up with a cogent and realistic plan that will appeal to the vast majority of the residents in the village. Another opinion that several of the respondents expressed is the vital importance of communication, that the village must keep residents informed about the development and progression of the whole property and the deal, in a fair and comprehensive manner through the local papers.

Focusing on the many letters and the high percentage of favorable responses the committee received, Chute says, "There's obviously a strong sentiment in the village for maintaining the integrity of the buildings, the beautiful facade, the beautiful historic building, etc."