Government

Town Plans Waveny Playground and Fitness Area for Spring ‘24

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A committee of town officials and residents is working toward a proposal for a playground and new exercise equipment area that could be installed in Waveny Park as early as next spring. Convened this past summer, the committee is working within its approved budget of $455,000 while seeking to fundraise $50,000 for the widely anticipated addition to New Canaan’s largest park, according to Ryan Restivo, assistant parks superintendent in the Department of Public Works. “Our objective is to revamp the fitness area that’s currently there that’s designed for ages 13-plus,” Restivo told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission at their Sept. 20 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center and via videoconference. “And then we’re going to build a renowned playground, designed for ages two through 12.

Government

Town: Early-Morning Pickleball Noise Complaints Down After Locking Up Mead Courts Overnight

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Town officials say they’ve effectively addressed noise complaints about pre-dawn pickleball players at Mead Park by locking the courts until 8 a.m.

In the early weeks of summer, pickleball players ignored the signs saying that the courts were open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.—and, in fact, vandalized and removed some of those signs—starting matches as early as 5:30 a.m., according to Parks & Recreation Director John Howe. “We’ve been dealing with noise complaints and we’ve put up some signs with the hours, which were vandalized and taken down and removed,” Howe told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission at their most recent meeting, held July 12 at Lapham Community Center. 

“So we’re going to be putting up new signs. But what we’re having problems with is people were actually going out as early as 5:30 to play. The pickleball courts are open continually 8 to 8, and so we had to start locking them up. Before that we had them unlocked.

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.

Government

Officials: Mead Park Tennis Courts To Open Later This Month

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All of New Canaan’s athletic fields are open and the increasingly heavily used tennis courts at Mead Park are on track to open this month, officials said last week. The company that helps ready the clay courts at Mead for the season has done its prep work, according to Parks & Recreation Director John Howe. “We don’t want to do what we did last year, though,” Howe told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission during their April 12 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center and via videoconference. “We opened too early,” he continued. “I’m not saying we are not opening up until June or anything like that, but we want a few weeks where we can water and roll the courts and have the surface firm up more.