Alexandra Martinakova photos
Peace gardener Aaron Goode: “We’re hoping to have a mutually beneficial relationship" with ...
... the newly opened Curtis Cofield Estates residents next door.
As the thermometer showed a temperature in the mid 80s Thursday morning, Paula and Frank Panzarella and Aaron Goode watered the West River Peace Garden with bottles and buckets they brought themselves.
They tended to that public greenspace, which still lacks its own water supply, as new neighbors have begun to move in next door at a long-in-the-works affordable housing development.
Goode and the Panzarellas are longtime members of Friends of West River Peace Garden. The garden itself, located at 997 Ella T Grasso Blvd., was established in 1988 by the City of New Haven Peace Commission.
“Typical day of volunteering is filling up bottles and starting off watering the plants,” Paula said. For over two decades, she has lived two blocks down from the garden. “We’ve been asking the city to help us with that for a number of years and we have not yet succeeded. ‘Cause it takes a lot of water to maintain a garden.”
“It is a testament to the commitment of our volunteers that they are willing to do that,” Goode said about bringing their own water. “We’re hoping to get more involvement also from the families in the new apartments and hopefully they’ll support the garden in different ways — and if they wanted to give us water from their site that would be great too.”
The apartments in question are the Curtis Cofield II Estates, a decades-long government-backed construction project that broke ground a little over a year ago and includes 56 new townhome-style rental apartments, as well as a clubhouse, a community center, parking, a fenced-off playground and a gazebo. The new apartments are separated from the Peace Garden with a fence.
A few families have already moved in. The official ribbon cutting is set for next week, June 16 at 11 a.m.
The Independent spoke on Thursday with a few residents of the Estates who have already moved in. They said that they are aware of the existence of the Peace Garden, but do not know anything about its history or purpose.
“We’re hoping to have a mutually beneficial relationship,” Goode said about the garden and its new neighbors.
Roughly 50 members of the garden’s friends group alternative coming out to volunteer at least once a week, and more often during the summer, to take care of the garden. That includes getting rid of weeds, trimming the grass, picking up any trash, and watering the precious plants that they planted themselves.
One of these plants is a ginkgo tree that comes from an original that survived the Hiroshima, Japan atomic bombing on Aug. 6, 1945, and was moved to the garden in 2016 for International Day of Peace.
“In a way that’s the most important thing we have here,” Goode explained. “It was really struggling for a while, we were worried that even though it survived an atomic bombing it was not going to survive the mean streets of New Haven, but it rallied. Keeping this guy watered and alive is one of our responsibilities.”
A responsibility that is extremely difficult without an easy-to-access water supply. Just to put into perspective how much water is really needed to sustain a garden like this, Goode said that their newest Magnolia tree needs about 25 gallons of water per week, which is “a lot of buckets.”
Buckets that the community members bring in cars that they have to park on the grass as there is no open parking anywhere near the park.
The volunteers do what they can. They still come every week and continue to not only take care of the garden, but also expand it.
“One of the neighbors approached us to ask if she could have a piece of the Peace Garden in order to make a Mother’s tribute,” Paula said. “Her mother had recently passed. And on Mother’s Day, everyone goes to their mother. And there is no tradition for mothers who have passed and she wanted to start a neighborhood tradition, where people can come and give tribute to their mothers that have passed.”
Even though right now it is just a 12 foot-in-diameter circle of soil, the hope is to have it ready for next year’s Mother’s Day celebration. Because that is the main idea behind this Peace Garden, that makes New Haven a proud United Nations Peace Messenger City, according to the sign displayed in the middle of the garden.
“It’s a beautiful space and especially at this time it’s really important,” Paula said. “It is a living example of the determination for peace and to end wars.”
The garden is open for volunteers every Friday from 9:30 a.m. till 11:30 a.m.
Frank Panzarella trims the grass around the sign.
Aaron Goode and Paula Panzarella pick up any trash or weeds growing around their beautiful garden.
A sign underneath the ginkgo tree that was planted there in 2016.
Goode and Frank Panzarella take care of the garden together.
Alexandra Martinakova Photo
Volunteers have to bring gallons of water in bottles and buckets; as well as park on the grass, as there is no water supply or free parking anywhere near the park.