New Haven Independent

The Board of Aldermen Monday fast-tracked an agreement to make way for improvements to the Dixwell neighborhood park.

Aldermen unanimously approved a 10-year lease agreement and purchase option between the city and the Housing Authority of land at 0, 147, and 157 Ashmun St. for expansion and improvement of Scantlebury Park. The lease is in the amount of $25,000 per year, with a purchase price of $1. Alders also gave the OK for the city to buy 80, 82, 88, 90, and 94 Canal St. from the Housing Authority for $10.

The approvals came after the City Plan Commission recently OK’d plans to make substantial improvements to the park and the three-plus acre parcel that is tucked between the Farmington Canal Greenway, the parking lot of the Dixwell-Rose Community Center, and Bristol Street.

An old playset will be torn down and replaced with new equipment, designed to serve several different age groups. The basketball court, which is thronged by kids after school and on weekends, will be renovated and, according to the plan, a new half court will be added.

A splash pad, especially popular with the little ones on hot summer days, is likely to be the new major attraction.

The plan also calls for an ornamental fence to be erected around one of the new play areas, and for new picnic tables and grills to be added. And Moser also has on his list new floodlights aimed toward the refurbished basketball courts.

Ringing the park will be a new five-foot walking path that will emerge when brush and old decaying pieces of wood are removed, and new plantings put in.

The land, left over from the Monterey Place development, which replaced the Elm Haven projects, was acquired from the Housing Authority of New Haven, and Yale University has contributed half a million dollars to the park improvements.

The work is scheduled to begin this spring and to be completed by fall.

The architect responsible for the Scantlebury improvement sis the modest man standing — typically — in the corner of the room at the recent City Plan Commission meeting. His name is David Moser. He’s the landscape architect with the commission, and if your child enjoys a new playground or a splash pad, it’s more than likely that Moser has sited, planned, and coordinated the project. His work provides a lot of joy, and he rarely calls attention to himself in the implementation.

Melissa Bailey contributed reporting.