Plans To Resurrect Beloved Park Submitted To Farmington
FARMINGTON/HARTFORD, CT — A long-shuttered but once beloved part of the area’s recreation scene is about to be resurrected, with Farmington’s zoning board officially receiving an application to do just that.
The Farmington Plan and Zoning Commission Monday officially received an application from the City of Hartford to refurbish and redevelop the old Batterson Park site in town into a new, modern version of Batterson Park.
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Batterson Park is owned by the City of Hartford, but its area covers land in New Britain and Farmington.
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The official address of the park currently is 76 Batterson Park Road, Farmington, which explains why Farmington’s PZC must decide the project’s fate.
Monday, the PZC formally received an application from Hartford for a special permit to refurb Batterson.
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Those changes include a new driveway and parking area, park support buildings, a boardwalk, and picnic areas located at what would be 95 Batterson Park Road, Farmington.
The PZC scheduled a public hearing for Jan. 13, 2025, at 7 p.m. at Farmington Town Hall, 1 Monteith Drive.
After hearing testimony, the PZC could vote to close the hearing and, eventually, decide the application.
At Monday’s meeting, the PZC didn’t discuss the application, only voting to schedule the hearing for next month.
Batterson features a 145-acre pond, which would not be available for swimmers yet.
A $7 million project to reopen, however, would include a splash pad, picnic pavilions, a kayak/canoe launch, a fishing pier, a bird-watching tower, and a playground/hiking trails.
The park closed in 2015 when the city faced financial constraints, harming its ability to staff, maintain, and operate the park, which has fallen into disrepair.
Hartford’s difficulty in maintaining what is, essentially, a city park (even though it’s not within city boundaries) had state and city officials floating the idea of creating Batterson State Park, putting the recreational site under the purview of the State of Connecticut.
But efforts to do that a year ago failed to garner necessary state approval, leading to an agreement among state, city, and nonprofit sources to operate the facility.
As a result, a deal was arranged to reopen Batterson Park in July 2025 under the umbrella of Riverfront Recapture, a Hartford non-profit that happens to manage multiple parks in the greater Hartford region.
Those parks are East River Park in East Hartford; Riverside Park in Hartford; Mortensen Riverfront Plaza in Hartford; and Charter Oak Landing in Hartford.
The deal would also include input from the City of Hartford, which still owns the property, and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which recently conducted an environmental survey of the site.
For the minutes of the Dec. 9 Farmington Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, click on this link.
From Oct. 29: ‘Batterson Park Reopening Plan Topic Of Farmington Forum’
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