Government

New Canaan ‘Community Garden’ Proposed for Kiwanis Park

By |

Led by residents who live in the neighborhood, a group of locals is seeking permission to create a “community garden” for New Canaan in a largely disused area of Kiwanis Park. An expanse of grass in the northeastern part of the Old Norwalk Road park could lend itself to an approximately 6,000-square-foot garden that town residents could use to grow mostly vegetables as well as fruit and flowers, New Canaan’s Lisa Creighton told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission at their Nov. 13 meeting. “The garden itself will increase the appeal and usage of Kiwanis Park,” Creighton said at the appointed body’s regular meeting, held at Lapham Community Center and via videoconference. During a presentation to the Commission, Creighton listed some of the expected benefits of the garden, including community beautification, social connection, educational opportunities, food security and sustainability. 

Creighton, who’d been involved with community gardens in Washington, D.C. in the past said that in her experience such gardens “build social cohesion,” bringing together people who normally wouldn’t interact. 

She added that a community garden such as what’s envisioned for Kiwanis lends itself to wide “peer-to-peer education” where adults learn from each other “about the stewardship of land, planting and seedlings.”

Though the organic plants grown in a community garden are designed to serve those who have secured plots, there often is excess, Creighton said.

Government

Eagle Scout’s ‘Cornhole Area’ Installed at Mead Park

By |

A local park is now benefitting from an Eagle Scout project that town officials approved earlier this year. Troop 70 Life Scout Jason Generalis received unanimous approval from the Parks & Recreation Commission when he came before the appointed body in March seeking approval to install a cornhole area at Mead Park. At the Commission’s most recent meeting, Generalis reviewed the work that went into creating the new area, which on completion immediately began drawing passersby and players, he said. “I hope the town can get a lot of use out of it,” Generalis told Parks & Rec members during their Oct. 9 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center and via videoconference.

Footer Featured Widget

Commission Approves ‘Cornhole Area’ at Park for Eagle Scout Project

By |

The Parks & Recreation Commission on Wednesday night voted unanimously in favor of an Eagle Scout project to install a cornhole area in a local park. Troop 70 Life Scout James Generalis told members of the Commission that in designing his Eagle Scout project he “wanted to do something that really impacted the community that a lot of members could use.”

Just which park would take the new cornhole area is not yet settled, he said. “It could either be Kiwanis, it could be Mead, it could be Irwin,” Generalis told the Commission at its regular meeting, held in Lapham Community Center and via videoconference. “It would be ultimately up to you guys to decide where to put it. But you can see I sketched out what I envision the area to look like and the dimensions of the cornhole boards, as well as the [Rams] design we’ll put on the cornhole boards.

Government

Officials Expect to Break Ground This Spring/Summer on New Fitness Area at Waveny

By |

Work is expected to start on the new outdoor fitness equipment area at Waveny this spring/summer, officials say, with the widely anticipated playground project to follow. Located on a grassy, tree-lined island near the Orchard Field lot—currently a seasonal outdoor ice rink—the two playgrounds will serve kids ages 2 to 5, and then 5 to 12, while the fitness area will be for people 13-and-older “and all inclusive,” according to Ryan Restivo, assistant parks superintendent in the Department of Public Works. “And to reiterate on the surfacing, we’ll be using the Poured-In-Place rubber surfacing, which is the same at Mead Playground,” Restivo told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission at their Feb. 7 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center and via videoconference. “It is number one, accessible.

Government

Town Officials To Draft ‘Code of Conduct’ for Public Parks

By |

Town officials say they’re drafting a Code of Conduct for New Canaan’s public parks. Members of the Parks & Recreation Commission are researching a Code of Conduct and plan to draft one for review and approval by the full appointed body and, later, the Board of Selectmen, according to Parks & Rec Chair George Benington. “I think that over the years there have been issues with loud music, alcohol and that kind of stuff, and language,” Benington said during the Commission’s Feb. 7 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center and via videoconference. “So I think to have something that particularly if [Assistant Parks Superintendent] Ryan [Restivo] or [Assistant Recreation Director] Zack [Philippas] are in the parks and they see something, they can say, ‘This is the Code of Conduct policy.’ If we’re in the park and we see something, we can do that as well.”

The comments came during Benington’s general update to the Commission.