The broken and outdated equipment in a fitness area located on a grassy, tree-shaded island across the Orchard Field parking lot in Waveny will be removed next month, officials say.
Set for a widely anticipated replacement, the 60-by-60-foot all-abilities fitness area often draws children who mistake it for playground equipment, according to Selectman Amy Murphy Carroll.
“Multiple times, men and women are trying to use it, and it’s swarmed by kids,” Murphy Carroll said during Tuesday’s regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.
She added that no one is blaming the kids for doing so.
“I know the actual equipment has little signs on it, which every kid in the world would ignore,” Murphy Carroll said. “And the parents probably don’t even see it, to be fair. Does it make any sense to do a sign saying, ‘Adults Only’?”
Parks and Recreation Director John Howe responded that there’s already a sign that says “13 and older.”
“You can always put up more signs,” he said. “I personally don’t think people read them.”
The comments came during a discussion of a request from the Parks and Recreation Department to enter into an approximately $20,000 contract with a Norwalk-based company to install plantings around the area, where not only a new fitness station but new children’s playgrounds are planned for installation.
Murphy Carroll, First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectman Steve Karl voted 3-0 in favor of the $21,825 contract with Nature’s Way Landscape Associates LLC.
The selectmen asked whether the area will be irrigated (no, the plants won’t need that).
Superintendent of Parks Ryan Restivo noted that once the new playground is in, children are expected to play there rather than the fitness area.
Asked when the old equipment will be removed, Restivo said, “Roughly December.”
It’s been nearly four years since the town made its inchoate plans for a new playground at Waveny public. Since then, a committee of seasoned community volunteers—Monica Capela, Lauren Connolly Nussbaum and Hilary Ormond—has signed on to fundraise for the project. The town already has allocated $455,000 toward it, of which about $311,000 remains, Restivo said. Given the New Canaan Community Foundation’s regular grant cycle, the committee is planning to apply this fall for grants that are awarded in May, Howe said. Once the combined fundraising-plus-town-contribution is known, the physical playground equipment can be purchased for a fall installation, Howe said. In all, the committee will seek to raise about $300,000, he said.
Regarding the playground, the selectmen asked whether it’ll be installed in the same area (yes), how much of the $300,000 has been raised (the committee is doing that leg work now), whether the committee is targeting state funds (no, NCCF’s grant cycle) and who picks the equipment (with community input, the committee).
Murphy Carroll asked whether a playground that costs $300,000—the funds already in hand—would be sufficient.
“Can you put a decent playground in?” she asked.
Howe said, “We could put an OK playground in—our fear, though, is we’d never be able to put the playground that the area would use and would be desired, because it would be hard to fundraise once there’s something there.”
He added that Restivo is intent on installing “The best playground in the Northeast.”
Restivo said that the fundraising committee “has been working really hard.”
“They have social media websites right now up and running,” he said. “And then they have a logo. And they’re looking to go to some of the special events, such as Breakfast with Santa. These are essential fundraising opportunities for them.”
He added that forgoing the grant cycle would be leaving money on the table.