The state is seeking public input to help it with design of the “passive park concept” as it makes plans for Seaside State Park, according to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. DEEP said the plans for Seaside in Waterford include $7.1 million committed to implement the passive park concept that is intended to “improve waterfront access along the Long Island Sound for visitors and protect the site from coastal flooding.
” “DEEP is thrilled to continue to move forward in the planning process around Seaside State Park,” DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes said, in the statement. “Engaging with stakeholders to inform the Passive Park concept will help us commemorate the historic buildings, as we work to bring Seaside up to the standard of our other State Parks, and provide residents with an improved, unique, and beautiful opportunity to access one of our greatest assets – the Connecticut shoreline.” “The Passive Park concept was identified as an option in the Comprehensive Planning Process in which DEEP engaged with local leaders, community members, and stakeholders,” the agency said in a statement.
“Through the Passive Park concept, the deteriorated buildings on site will be removed, and site improvements including restrooms, walking trails, shoreline improvements, picnic areas, parking improvements, features to memorialize and commemorate the architecture and historic significance of the site, and other elements, will be implemented,” the agency said. The major buildings on site were designed by Cass Gilbert , the architect who also designed the Woolworth Building in New York City and the U.S.
Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. The alternative would be to tear down the 1930s-era structures, which have 173,000 square feet of space, the Courant has reported.
The site once housed the Seaside Sanatorium for children with tuberculosis. The facility was later used to serve children and adults with developmental disabilities. Washington Post photo by Michael Robinson Chavez In neighboring Ventura County, the fastest warming in the Lower 48 states, high tides and rough seas are eating away at this seaside parking lot.
Hartford Courant Seaside State Park is located in Waterford Stephen Dunn / Hartford Courant Seaside State Park is located in Waterford MICHAEL McANDREWS / Hartford Courant The buildings at Seaside State Park in Waterford had fallen into disrepair. Bob MacDonnell/Hartford Courant Once the grand summer estate of the Harkness family, Harkness Memorial State Park now offers visitors over 230 seaside acres of formal gardens, picnic areas, and a beach area for combing and fishing. MICHAEL McANDREWS / Hartford Courant A wide lawn at Seaside State Park opens up to Long Island Sound.
The former Seaside Sanatorium, a hospital for children with tuberculosis, has been vacant since the 1970s. Final plans to turn the 32 acres into a state park are due in April. MICHAEL McANDREWS / Hartford Courant A wide lawn at Seaside State Park opens up to Long Island Sound.
The former Seaside Sanatorium, a hospital for children with tuberculosis, has been vacant since the 1970s. Final plans to turn the 32 acres into a state park are due in April. MICHAEL McANDREWS / Hartford Courant A wide lawn at Seaside State Park opens up to Long Island Sound.
The former Seaside Sanatorium, a hospital for children with tuberculosis, has been vacant since the 1970s. Final plans to turn the 32 acres into a state park are due in April. MICHAEL McANDREWS / Hartford Courant The former Seaside Sanatorium, a hospital for children with tuberculosis, has been vacant since the 1970s.
Final plans to turn the 32 acres into a state park are due in April. The agency said it has been working with a consultant FHI Studio to “meet with various local stakeholder groups and is now seeking public participation in a survey to inform the historical commemoration of the buildings that will be removed, learn what activities or features visitors might like to see in the park, and better understand how the site is currently used.” Survey responses are due by August, 5, 2024, according to DEEP.
The agency also said it would hold a public meeting later this year to solicit input from park users and the local community. “While people are welcome to visit the park, no on-site work has been conducted at Seaside, and the buildings remain closed to the public due to their unsafe condition,” the agency noted. “After the public outreach is completed, the architectural/engineering firm contracted for the project will use the information and ideas gathered through the outreach and planning process to prepare a design for the Passive Park concept.
Waterford First Selectman Rob Brule said, in the statement, that he is pleased the state is seeking input from the town and residents “regarding the future of this precious regional historic and environmental resource.” “We look forward to when Seaside State Park is able to be fully enjoyed by the public based on a plan which incorporates their needs and concerns,” he said. State Senator Martha Marx, D-Waterford, said, “Seaside State Park is an important local resource and this will preserve local shoreline access and invest in the future of the region.
I encourage anyone with ideas for how it can be improved to contact DEEP and help move this forward.” State Rep. Kathleen McCarty, R-Waterford, noted, that there have been “ many challenges, much due diligence, RFPs, and public engagement over many years on various park concepts that became unfeasible,” but that she is “looking forward to advancing work with DEEP, town officials, and the community in order to realize a safe Passive Park concept at Seaside.
” The 32-acre tuberculosis sanatorium was opened in 1930 and served patients suffering from the disease until 1958. The buildings were converted to a geriatric hospital, and then, in 1961, became the Seaside Regional Center for the Mentally Retarded. The center closed in 1996.
The multistory, brick hospital building, with its turrets and balconies, has a look that mixes the style of an oceanfront resort and a fortress. The other major buildings include a former nurses’ dormitory, and a “duplex building” that housed administrative offices. Stretches of sandy beach lie on the other side of the seawall, and cormorants sit on the rocks of the stone breakwaters watching over the ferries running from New London to Orient Point.
Find the survey here: https://forms.office.com/g/ypasK4PdVy .
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