$1.1M In State Aid To Spruce Up City Parks

Over $1.1 million in state aid is on its way to help fix up and improve a host of parks throughout the city, including a new proposed homicide memorial park on Valley Street.

Members of the Board of Alders City Services and Environmental Policy (CSEP) committee unanimously voted this past Thursday night in favor of the city accepting five parks improvement grants from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). The state funds, which the State Bond Commission approved last year, total $1,138,547.

Here is a breakdown of the state aid en route to city parks:

• $300,000 to support the construction of The Lost Generation Memorial Garden, a memorial for victims of gun violence that is planned for a parcel of city-owned land on Valley Street in the shadow of West Rock. The three parent-organizers behind the memorial testified before the alders on Thursday night, moving nearly all of the local legislators to tears and heartfelt expressions of gratitude with their stories of losing their respective children to gun violence.

Marlene Pratt, who has been working for two years to make the memorial a reality, said that working with the city, the Urban Resources Initiative (URI), and Svigals + Partners architects to make this memorial a reality has given her a new sense of connection to her son, who was shot and killed over two decades ago. ​“Where we thought we couldn’t do anything else, this came in place,” Pratt said on Thursday. ​“We’re doing one more thing for you when we thought this was over.”

“Thank you for this memorial,” said East Rock Alder Anna Festa. ​“It’s another way for parents to grieve their loved ones. My heart goes out to you. Thank you for initiating this project, and for fighting for it.”

Hill Alder Ron Hurt agreed. ​“It’s going to be a monument for years to come,” he said. ​“God bless you.”

“This will get done,” Newhallville/Prospect Hill Alder Steve Winter added. ​“And I hope it will get done quickly.”

Colleen Murphy-Dunning of URI, the project’s fiduciary, said that, once the full board approves the acceptance of the $300,000 in state aid, URI and the mother-organizers will start finalizing designs for the park and raising private funds for the project, which Pratt estimates will cost around $600,000 in total.

• $575,000 for improvements to athletic fields at Fairmont Park in Fair Haven Heights.

“Once authorized,” Parks Director Becky Bombero wrote to the Board of Alders in a letter in support of accepting the funds, ​“we will begin a community visioning process to prioritize the improvements which may include draining, irrigation, fencing, lighting, security and other enhancements to improve the fields at Fairmont Park.”

• $217,597 to build a splash pad, playground, seating, and security improvements at DeGale Field on Goffe Street.

• $25,000 for infrastructure improvements to 17 of the New Haven Land Trust’s 50 community gardens. The city is the fiduciary for this grant, Bombero said, but the land trust will be responsible for doing the work and raising matching funds. The work will include building new tool sheds, installing more raised garden beds, and building hoop houses and low tunnels to allow for fruit and vegetable growth throughout the cold weather.

• $20,950 for improvements to the ​“Sherman Forest” section of Beaver Ponds Park. The city is acting as the fiduciary on behalf of URI for this project, but URI will be doing the work, which will include fence and trail improvements along Sherman Avenue in the park.