Kimberly Park Awaits Upgrades, & ​“Friends”

Neighbors heard about plans to fix up Kimberly Field — and threw in their own plan: To ensure that people power makes it safe to use.

Officials shared plans at a virtual community hearing Tuesday night to renovate the field’s derelict basketball court, fix its drainage issues, and build a walking path along the park’s border, among other potential improvements.

The city’s chief landscape architect, Katherine Jacobs, and the Urban Resources Initiative (URI) hosted the neighborhood meeting to gather feedback on these plans, as well as ideas for other fixes. Neighbors offered input, and spoke about possibly forming a ​“Friends” group to help the plan succeed.

According to Jacobs’ presentation, the parks department plans to allocate $101,500 toward drainage improvements, benches, trash cans, requisite demolitions, and basketball court improvements, which are set to be completed in Summer 2022. A host of additional grants would cover the costs of the walking loop, including donated trees and planters from URI.

More than two dozen Hill residents and affiliates of the adjacent Betsy Ross Arts Magnet Middle School showed up to share hopes and concerns for the park. Many urged the city to focus on addressing safety and litter issues, attesting to needles and alcohol bottles frequently left in the grass. Some conveyed frustration that a person who has been sleeping in the park has allegedly been defecating there regularly. Others noted that dirt bikes and motorcycles frequently ride through the park, especially during the summer months. 

Betsy Ross teachers who attended the meeting expressed caution about encouraging their students to use the park. ​“Park is not safe for children as is,” wrote Betsy Ross teacher Matt Kelsey in the Zoom meeting’s chat function. 

Betsy Ross Principal Jennifer Jenkins urged the city to pay attention to how park entrances interact with the school’s boundaries. One entrance is currently accessible only via the school’s parking lot. ​“During school hours, we need to be able to close it off,” Jenkins said. ​“At our dismissal, at our arrival, during the school day, we have to monitor people able to walk through at any time.”

According to Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Rebecca Bombero, some parents living on the other side of Kimberly Field told the city that their kids walk through the park every day to commute to school.

Howard Avenue resident Claudette Kidd suggested that the city add lighting and security cameras to bolster a sense of safety in the area.

Bombero noted that adding lighting to the park would push its closing time from sundown to 10 p.m.

“Could lights be turned off early?” Kidd asked in the chat. The administrators didn’t come to a conclusion by the end of the meeting.

Earlier that day, Kimberly Field was silent and nearly empty. A puddle from the previous week’s snow lingered in the middle of the field. 

As Llieira Martinez, who lives across the street from Betsy Ross, waited for her son’s school bus, she said she wasn’t sure how the city could improve the park’s safety.

She’s been to the park only three times, despite living right across the street, she said. She doesn’t feel it’s safe for her kids after encountering syringes and other litter.

When her son Carlos hopped off the school bus, he said he hopes the city puts a soccer ball in the park, and maybe some goal posts. ​“I play soccer with my dad,” he said.

Despite the safety concerns, Tuesday night’s meeting made clear that the park holds meaning and potential for many neighbors.

In the Zoom meeting’s chat, Marion Sachdeva recalled playing ball in Kimberly Field as a child in the early 1950s. ​“That park has a place in my heart,” she said. She recalled that she would call out before leaving the house for the park: ​“Mom, I’m going down the lot!” 

One Betsy Ross parent who identified herself as Valerie noticed that the city didn’t include plans for a playground. ​“Recreation is very good for mental and physical health,” she said. A playground could help Kimberly Field become a more ​“kid-friendly and family-friendly park.”

She added that she is concerned about gentrification in the area. ​“Hopefully … the park is for the community and the families there, and this is not the beginning phase of refurbishing the park and doing other things in the neighborhood that would drive the residents out,” she said.

Kidd expressed her support for the walking path — ​“I love that, somewhere to exercise!” — and suggested that the city add fitness equipment, like the equipment available at Edgewood Park.

Alder Kampton Singh, whose ward includes Kimberly Field, suggested a community garden to encourage neighbors to get involved.

Angela Hatley, for whom ​“Kimberly Field is in my backyard,” urged the city to add any amenities toward the center of the field, far away from people’s homes.

“The closer you get to the property lines, you’re in people’s backyards,” she said.

She asked the city to avoid putting a soccer field in the park, saying that the noise of a soccer game would bother nearby residents.

As neighbors offered their thoughts, URI’s Anna Pickett jotted down suggestions on a virtual whiteboard.

New Friends of Kimberly Field?

As they came up with specific interventions for the park, neighborhood residents pieced together a broader idea for reviving Kimberly Field: forming a group of committed volunteers and advocates devoted to the park.

As plans for the park take shape, ​“you must have a community advisory committee every step of the way,” Hill activist Leslie Radcliffe told the city and URI. She suggested a ​“heavy presence from homeowners and residents from the homes that abut the park.”

Valerie suggested a version of such a committee that could work independently from the city. Perhaps neighbors could form ​“community neighborhood watch groups,” or convene ​“people who would want to be involved in the maintenance of the park.”

City Engineer Giovanni Zinn pointed out that other parks have “‘friend’ groups” — like the Friends of East Rock Park, or the Friends of Quinnipiac River Park. Those groups are often in frequent communication with city staff, and ​“make a big difference,” Zinn said.

Pickett suggested that a group of neighbors could apply for URI’s Community Greenspace program, which assists with park and streetscape revitalization efforts in New Haven.

Radcliffe shared her contact information in the Zoom room chat for neighbors interested in forming an organization. ​“Love the idea of forming the ​‘FRIENDS OF KIMBERLY’ group!!!” she wrote. Kidd and Betsy Ross teacher Maura Galante expressed interest in participating.

Betsy Ross teacher Kelly Mikulski suggested that her students might be interested in getting involved with park improvements, too. The school focuses on the arts, she noted. Her students could make trash cans for the park and ​“put their own stamp on it,” or help paint one of the dugouts in the park.

“If the students become invested, they’re gonna want to take care of it,” she said.