Government

Garden Club, Landscape Architect at Odds Over Future of ‘Parterre Garden’ at Waveny

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New Canaan should pause before approving a plan that would see a formal garden at Waveny house changed from its original design, according to local landscape architects. Located directly east of the balcony out back of the 1912-built Waveny house, the parterre garden is “the most important formal garden in town,” an “historically significant” area that “deserves a great deal of thought before it gets radically changed,” Keith Simpson told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission at their most recent meeting. “That configuration of the boxwood hedge has been there for over 100 years and I think it has stood the test of time,” Simpson said at the Nov. 8 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center. “And also, the Olmsted office is probably the best known firm in the history of landscape architecture in the country.

News

Police: Man Involved in Waveny Incident Has Identified Himself, Criminal Charges To Come

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Police said Thursday that the man suspected of approaching a female jogger at Waveny one evening this week and making “inappropriate remarks” to her came to department headquarters to admit his involvement in the incident. The man “provided specific details as to what took place, confirming he was in fact the suspect,” according to a press bulletin issued by Police Lt. Jason Ferraro, the department’s public information officer. “This investigation is still ongoing in terms of determining appropriate charges and completing the appropriate paperwork to make an arrest,” Ferraro said in a press release. “However at this time we feel this was an isolated incident and that the person responsible has been identified. Once an arrest is made further information will be released including the identity of the suspect.”

It isn’t clear just what the man said to the woman, though it alarmed her, according to information police put out earlier in the week as they searched for a suspect.

News

Letter: Ideal Spot for Year-Round, Heated Restroom Facilities at Waveny

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The area near Waveny House badly needs year-round, outside accessible, heated restroom facilities. The restrooms near the water tower are seasonal only. There is a building right next to the Power House which is ideally located and, being slightly larger than the water tower restrooms building, suitably sized for such a use. It can be converted and readily made handicap accessible. It has the rounded stone foundation walls, indicating that it dates back to the Hall (1900) era, and it is the last of those buildings not in public use.

Government

Committee: 20 Percent of Space in Town-Owned Buildings Is Currently Unused

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About 20 percent of space in town-owned, non-district buildings is now unused, and another 25 percent need major repairs, officials said last week. Just what the town should do about that empty space, and what capital maintenance it should invest in, are major questions facing New Canaan, according to Amy Murphy Carroll. “I think everything jumps out to you with just the amount of square footage that is vacant,” Carroll, a co-chair of the Town Building Evaluation & Use Committee, said during the group’s Sept. 28 special meeting. “And I will throw this out: I mean if things are not needed—and ‘need’ is a relative thing—sometimes it costs money to own more and the cost to tear down is not going to go down,” she added at the meeting, held in Town Hall.

Around Town

‘It’s Really Beautiful’: Praise for New Footpath at Waveny

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Recently completed by the town, a new path in Waveny, running from the western side of Waveny House to the Lapham Road entrance, is earning high praise from park users. The eight-foot wide path closes a long-planned loop in the park, officials say, allowing visitors to enjoy approximately 1.7 miles of uninterrupted pathway and offering an even more attractive solution to pedestrians who insist on walking in the road. “It used to be like a cow path,” Recreation Director Steve Benko told NewCanaanite.com. “Everybody had to walk up the same hill, and they’d trip over rocks and roots. Now, you can conceivably do a loop of the whole park without leaving the path.”

Additional drainage is expected to take place soon, and the path is currently up and running under a design from the Waveny Park Conservancy.