Government

Parks Officials Recommend Waveny Athletic Fields for Summer Theatre of New Canaan 2021 Location

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Saying a proposed location near the walled garden won’t work, parks officials last week suggested Summer Theatre of New Canaan figure out a way to put on its 2021 performances on the main athletic fields. Members of the Parks & Recreation Commission voted 10-1 at their April 14 meeting to have town officials and a designee from the appointed body work with the organization to arrange for a stage, tents and audience seats to be located near the southwest corner of Waveny’s main athletic fields, north of the main road through the park. “I think that field is amazing,” Chair Rona Siegel said during the meeting, held via videoconference. The area is flat, with good access to parking and restroom facilities, she said. It also will be visible to those using the park and especially motorists entering from Lapham Road, she said.

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Parks & Rec Recommends Locating Proposed Open-Air Ice Rink at Waveny

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Parks officials this week voted to recommend that a proposed seasonal outdoor ice rink be located in Waveny. Based on the findings of a subcommittee, the Parks & Recreation Commission voted 10-0 in favor of trying out a winter “mini rink” in the parking lot that serves the Orchard Field softball diamonds. 

One commissioner abstained from voting during the April 14 meeting, held via videoconference. Commissioner Jake Granito, who helped lead the Ice Rink Committee, said the group looked in depth at three possible locations—tapping Public Works Director Tiger Mann, Parks Superintendent John Howe and Recreation Director Steve Benko for their expertise—and concluded that the Waveny site “is best suited for the town.”

It’s a large area that’s “also good because you have the grass fields behind it,” Granito said. “The bathrooms are right there. There’s still plenty of parking.

Carl Mason

‘It’s Beautiful, It Really Is’: Waveny Disc Golf Course Sees Uptick in Use Amid Pandemic

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Though they do not keep hard statistics, the volunteers who designed and maintain a frisbee golf course at Waveny say they’ve seen an uptick in usage in the past year or so. Established in 2007, the Waveny Disc Golf Course on the west side of Lapham Road is one of 31 in Connecticut and the seventh-oldest in the state, according to Tim Smith. In 2020, Smith and other volunteers created six additional holes on the course bringing it to the standard 18 total, he told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission at their most recent meeting. “I think that’s one of the reasons I think we are seeing so many people enjoy the course now,” Smith said during the Commission’s March 10 meeting, held via videoconference. “Players of all levels are enjoying the course.

Government

Local Woman: Out-of-Towners Are Violating Rules in Use of Paddle Tennis Courts at Waveny 

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Nonresidents are using New Canaan’s platform or “paddle” tennis courts at times when attendants are not there to monitor registrations, including Fairfield County league players, according to a local woman who holds a permit to play at the Waveny facility. There are “there are quite a few people from other towns that know when our offseason starts and they are using our paddle courts,” Terri Hott told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission during their regular meeting last week. “All of us that have passes—and that’s revenue for the town—make our reservations,” Hott said during the March 10 meeting, held via videoconference. “If these other leagues are not paying for the use of the courts and they are reserving the courts, I mean, what revenue is collected on that?”

“One Sunday I was there, there were just people driving by and they jumped on the courts with their kids. And just to throw a ball or something with their child.

Government

‘It Looks So Wonderful’: High Praise for First-Phase Work Done in Bristow Bird Sanctuary

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The completed first phase in restoring a long-neglected and little-known bird sanctuary in New Canaan—one of the nation’s oldest—is earning high praise from town officials and visitors. Described as a quiet and beautiful wooded area, the Bristow Bird Sanctuary and Wildwood Preserve—thanks to volunteers and Department of Public Works personnel—features attractive new footbridges over meandering streams, a newly dredged pond, seating areas and varied bird feeders, officials said during last week’s meeting of the Parks & Recreation Commission. Responding to a presentation from Public Works Director Tiger Mann on the work that’s been done in Bristow in the past six months, Commissioner Francesca Segalas said, “It looks so wonderful.”

“I am so happy to see this,” she said during the meeting, held Jan. 13 via videoconference. 

Mann shared a photo walkthrough that he’d captured the same morning, starting at the northern end of the 17-acre bird sanctuary—accessible through Mead Park, at the back of the little league baseball fields—and following pedestrian trails toward its other entrance along Route 106. As he walked along, Mann said he found the park “very quiet.”

“I didn’t hear anything,” he said.