Around Town

‘It’s a Beautiful Pool’: Residents Flock to Steve Benko Pool at Waveny Amid Heat, Humidity

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The NewCanaanite.com Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Carriage Barn Arts Center. With temperatures topping 90 degrees, and a feel temperature of more than 100 degrees, the Steve Benko Pool at Waveny is drawing hundreds of visitors on many days this summer. At midday recently, New Canaan resident Ally Pastushan joined dozens of other parents at the pool watching their kids compete in a meet between Newfield Swim Club and Waveny Gator Swim Team. “We love the pool, we moved to New Canaan about 12 years ago and the improvements they’ve made have been wonderful,” Pastushan said. “Between the big umbrellas they have, the fact that they provide chairs, the snack bar and everything, big improvements over where it was.” 

While the chairs, umbrellas, and snack bar all remain popular fixtures of the pool, John Howe, the director of the Parks and Recreation Department, said that the public will probably not realize the effort his department puts into keeping the pool open. 

“Unfortunately, not a lot of improvements that the public would see,” Howe said when asked about what changes have been made.

Government

Committee To Lead Proposal for New Children’s Playground in Waveny

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First made public more than two years ago, plans to install a new children’s playground in Waveny have been delayed, though a new committee now is taking up the proposal, officials say. A committee that includes Parks & Recreation Director John Howe, Public Works Director Tiger Mann, a Town Councilman and Monica Capela of the Friends of Mead Park Playground is to meet soon to develop a “concept plan” for the new playground area, officials said during Tuesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting. The playground will be located next to the parking lot that serves the “Orchard Field” softball diamond and all-abilities fitness station/athletic area in Waveny. 

The committee will “propose the layout for the new athletic area and the children’s playground area and the equipment” for both, Mann told the selectmen at their meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “We’ve been a little delayed in getting it launched,” Mann said. He spoke in response to a request for an update on the proposal from First Selectman Kevin Moynihan.

Government

Town Approves $45,000 for Robotics Machine To Lay Out Paint on Athletic Fields

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Town officials on Tuesday approved the $45,000 purchase of a machine made by a robotics company that will lay out painted lines on New Canaan’s athletic fields. The town has been trying out various paint machines over the years and has identified one, from Kennesaw, Ga.-based TinyMobileRobots, that has been shown to save significant time and manpower in laying out the fields, according to Parks & Recreation Director John Howe. “If we need to lay out a soccer field the field sizes and layout will be pre-programmed and updated as they change,” Howe told the Board of Selectmen at its regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “As an example, girls lacrosse changes their field sizing, it seems like every year, but it’s probably about every five years. They make little tweaks to the field.

Chris Schipper

Officials Report Vandalism at Mead Park [UPDATED]

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[Note: This article has been updated with information from New Canaan Police.]

Officials said last week that Mead Park was recently hit by vandals. They “melted part of the one the slides” in the playground area, according to Parks & Recreation Director John Howe. “We’re waiting for the new piece to come in,” Howe told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission during their May 10 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center and via videoconference. “We’ll replace it,” he said. “Since that happened we haven’t had any more vandalism recently.

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Town To Work on Parking Lot at Mead Following Rise in Pickleball Court Use

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Though they’ve been open less than two years, the pickleball courts at Mead Park have become so popular that the town is looking at ways to get more parking spaces into the lot that serves the facility, officials said last week. All five courts were in use at lunchtime on April 12, Parks & Recreation Director John Howe told members of the Parks & Rec Commission during their regular meeting that night. “It’s caused a parking issue down there,” he said during the meeting, held at Lapham Community Center. The warmer weather and busier season at Mead—clay tennis courts, Mead Park Lodge, baseball and playground visitors—are expected to exacerbate the parking crunch, commissioners said. The parking configuration is “going to have to change,” Parks & Rec Secretary Francesca Segalas said.