As the Pop Up Park committee we have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from New Canaan residents and visitors. It is a testament to our town that even in this time of cyber communication that we still cherish a space where we can meet, shop and enjoy our summer months together, young and old, as a community.
However, we recognize that we must respect the wishes of our merchant community as well. Although we feel as if we included them in the decision-making process of earlier this year, some merchants felt as if their voices were not heard until after we had secured permission to launch the Pop-Up Park for the summer.
It is worthwhile to note here that we had heard and continue to hear from merchants that were very supportive of the Pop Up Park and felt it was a benefit to their business while others did not. We all are entitled to our own opinions but we also must agree that there can only be one set of facts.
Because of this we have decided to suspend the Pop-Up Park until we can better address the impact it has on our merchants, and until we can determine how we can best work together to benefit all the stakeholders. In order to accomplish this we will encourage merchants as well as town representatives to attend our meetings as we believe that this collaboration will serve the town well.
We certainly hope the Pop Up Park can return and will continue to work on a solution. We’ll miss the miniature golf, badminton, World Cup soccer, concerts, and even just a quiet dinner outside with friends on a summer evening.
Again, thanks to everyone for voicing their opinions, both for and against the Pop Up Park. By listening to all the comments, and acting on them, we believe the next iteration of the Pop Up Park will be even more fun, even better for business, and will bring us even closer together as the special community of New Canaan, Connecticut.
If anyone would like to reach the committee the email address is popupplazaNC@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Jeff Holland
Arnold Karp
Kelly Kraus
Tucker Murphy
Keith Simpson
Marty Skrelunas
Betsy Wilson
First, thanks to all the volunteers who have made the pop-up park happen. The letter from 16 merchants actually supported the pop-up park as it was, but they were against the new plan to keep the park in place all summer long, every day, from June through Labor Day. On the other side, I get that it’s a lot of work to set up and then pack up the park over and over. My own informal polling suggests a lot of New Canaanites would like to keep it as it was, not as a 10-week fixture. But now, reading this letter, it looks like we’ll have NOTHING, and we’ll have NOTHING all summer long. That’s really a shame. Is no compromise possible?
I agree with Cam. I myself have done “sports polling” (speaking with parents on the sidelines of kids’ sports) and many support it as it was, rather than a permanent fixture. It’s a shame it can’t be done at all now. There are so many supporters, surely it can be pulled off. Especially now with all this PR. They’d have dozens of volunteers to join the committee members in setting it up. And if it can’t be done, then we have to ask ourselves, is it really feasible? It’s not fair to foist it on the merchants all summer 24/7 simply because it’s difficult to maintain. Let’s either make it work as a weekend enjoyment or consider it a learning experience, and move forward. New Canaan is a special town, and this dialogue has had an uncharacteristically harsh tone. Let’s be supportive of the merchants, grateful to the committee, and kind to each other. Happy summer!