Some of Fair Haven’s kids are about to get wet — but not the right kids, in the view of one alderwoman.
The alderwoman, Fair Haven’s Migdalia Castro (pictured), fumed Wednesday evening as Parks Director Bob Levine announced the location he has selected for the city’s latest water fountain play spot, otherwise known as a “splash pad.”
The new pad will be constructed at Fair Haven’s Lewis Street Park, Levine (at left in top photo) said. That’s not the spot where Castro said she had requested it to be placed. The alderwoman wanted it in her ward elsewhere in Fair Haven, in the central part of the neighborhood. She accused the parks director of ignoring her requests and instead showing “favoritism to another area.” Levine saw it differently.
Their exchange took place at the monthly meeting of the board of Parks Commissioners, held this month at the Pardee Greenhouses on Ridge Street in East Rock Park.
To Castro, who’s also a parks commissioner, the decision smacked of “elitism” — of placing services away from the poorest city neighborhoods.
As part of his Director’s Report to the commission, Levine updated the commissioners on a number of Parks Department projects, including dealing with the recent difficulties (i.e. sex acts) involving illicit use of the Lewis Street Park playground slide. He went on to mention that the park has been chosen as the location for a new splash pad, a park feature that involves large fountains that kids can run through and play in to cool off in the summertime. There are several splash pads in the city, including a large facility at Lighthouse Point and one in Newhallville (pictured above) that opened last year.
Castro immediately spoke up to voice her displeasure at the choice of the Lewis Street location. She said that she had submitted a petition to Levine signed by Fair Haven residents requesting a splash pad in central Fair Haven. The petition proposed possible locations at Columbus School, John Martinez School and Criscuolo Park. Castro said that Levine never responded to the petition or her requests for discussion.
Levine said that he had spoken with Sue Weisselberg, the head of construction for New Haven Public Schools. He said Weisselberg told him that she had communicated with Castro and that the two women had come to the decision that Columbus School was not a viable option. So he chose Lewis Street instead.
“That really appalls me,” Castro said, that Levine “would even consider” putting the splash pad on Lewis Street instead of the places that the petition had suggested. The decision amounts to “favoritism to another area,” she said.
Levine acknowledged her comment but did not respond. Commission Chairman David Belowsky changed the subject to the Edgewood Park tennis courts. Discussion moved on as Castro fumed, still visibly chagrined. The commissioners did not discuss the splash pad further.
After the meeting, Levine said that the Lewis Street splash pad had a pricetag of $55,000, compared to a projected $175,000 for a splash pad at Columbus School. He said that his conversation with Sue Weiselberg led him to believe that Castro’s proposed locations at the Columbus School and the John Martinez School were not viable. “At the end of my discussion [with Weiselberg], what I recalled was that they had been taken off the table,” he said.
Outside after the meeting, Castro sat in her grey Toyota Scion, about to drive off. She explained that two years ago she received a petition from “hundreds” of residents of Fair Haven, requesting a splash pad at either of the two schools or at Criscuolo Park. She sent the petition to Levine, who responded that there was no money available, Castro said. The alderwoman said that she tried repeatedly to discuss the matter with him, but he didn’t respond to her calls or written communications.
“Now all of a sudden we hear that it’s going to be in Lewis Street!” Castro said. “It’s just for the elite.”
Lewis Street is part of Fair Haven, in Alderwoman Erin Sturgis-Pascale’s ward. Castro said the park, a block from the Quinnipiac River, is too far away to be a useful splash pad location for the residents who need it.
“There’s a need,” she said. “They want to have it in their neighborhood.”
Castro said that the splash pad location choice was part of a larger trend of poorer neighborhoods getting short shrift when it comes to public amenities. “Services should be spread around,” she said. “I’m really feeling favoritism.”
The alderwoman vowed to keep fighting for a splash pad. “I’m not going to give up,” she said. “We’ll find funders who can do it.”
Migdalia, I can understand your frustration. Unlike your petition for possible locations for a splashpad, Lewis St. Park had much of the infrastructure in place as there was a water feature at one time in the park. The ball rolled when Lowe's approached URI for the location of a city project in which they could partner with their "Hero's" program. There was a strong community element already at work in the park as Lewis Street Park has had varying degrees of support over the years from a waxing and waning resident population and URI. When we as a community were approached, the splashpad was going to be supplied by Lowe's, not the city. It was only after this that the city and parks came onboard because there was a lone "snakehead" feature that was not used in another location which they thought would work. Lewis Street Park suffers a confining space limitation, so the single feature was all we could fit in anyway. I think Criscuolo park would be the best location for a large scale water feature the likes of Lighthouse Point. We approached the community users of Lewis Street Park to see what they wanted in terms of infrastructure before any of the design/build. I suggest outreach to the users of Criscuolo Park to see what their wants are in line with your desires. It can happen!