First public forum on Mystic Boathouse Park slated for Saturday
Stonington — The first of several planned forums on what residents would like to see in the proposed Mystic River Boathouse Park will be held Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to noon.
The forum, officially known as a joint meeting of the Board of Selectmen and the Mystic River Boathouse Park Implementation Committee, will begin at the adjacent Latitude 41 restaurant. A tour of the site will be held from 9:30 to 10 a.m.
First Selectman Rob Simmons said the tour will give those in attendance a sense of the size and features of the 1.5-acre property.
The tour group then will move back to Latitude 41, where Chad Frost, whose Mystic firm has been hired to design the site plan, will outline the preliminary plans for the site. Residents then will have a chance to offer input on what should be in the park. They also will break up into small groups and place values on possible features of the park, such as a shaded picnic area, open space, parking spots and how the boathouse should be positioned.
Simmons said Frost and the committee will consider implementing the input they receive from the public at this and future forums.
Simmons said one suggestion he has heard is to create an off-leash dog park on the site, after the town made the unofficial dog park at the Town Dock an on-leash area.
Controversy surrounded the Town Dock park for two years after neighbors complained about it and sued the town. Simmons said there is not enough land on the boathouse park site for a dog park.
Last year, residents approved $2.2 million in borrowing to create the boathouse park and the town closed on the $1.67 million purchase of property on Route 27 just north of Mystic Seaport in January. After it finalizes its plan, the town also will have to gain Planning and Zoning Commission approval for it.
The town also has reached an agreement with the Friends of Stonington Crew. The organization will raise money and construct a dock and the boathouse on the property for use by the Stonington High School crew team and the public. The group already has begun fundraising.
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