REP. O'DEA CELEBRATES OPENING OF INCLUSIVE WAVENY PARK PLAYGROUND

New Canaan public-private partnerships have delivered generations of park improvements

Deputy Republican Leader Tom O'Dea (R-125), who has represented New Canaan in the Connecticut General Assembly since 2013, today celebrated the opening of the new inclusive playground at Waveny Park. The opening of the new playground is the latest chapter in improvements that have transformed Waveny into one of the region's finest community parks since its purchase in 1967 by the town.

The playground, located near Orchard Field, is designed so children of all ages and abilities can play together. It features accessible play structures, inclusive swings, a poured-in-place rubber surface, picnic and seating areas, and a donor walk honoring the families, businesses, and organizations that helped make the project possible. The roughly $775,000 project was financed through a combination of town funds, privately raised dollars, and a $300,000 grant from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development under the Small-Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP).

First Selectman Dionna Carlson publicly thanked the New Canaan legislative delegation — including Representative O'Dea — for writing in support of the town's DECD grant application and for helping secure state funding. O'Dea joined town officials, Parks and Recreation staff, the Friends of Waveny Playground, donors, and families in welcoming children onto the new play space.

"Waveny has always been more than a park to me. It is where New Canaan comes together. This playground is a shining example of what happens when residents, volunteers, town government, and the state pull in the same direction,” Rep. O’Dea said. “My three publicly educated children all attended South, Saxe and the High School and spent hours weekly at various playgrounds throughout town but there was no opportunity to play at a playground here in Waveny. Every child should have a place to play, and today New Canaan delivered one of the finest inclusive playgrounds anywhere here at Waveny."

A Record of Public-Private Partnership at Waveny

O'Dea's support for the playground continues a personal and public commitment that began when he moved to New Canaan in 1998, continued through his service on the New Canaan Town Council from 2006 to 2012, and has defined his work in the General Assembly from 2013 to the present.

Over that span he has backed and helped advance public-private projects that have raised millions of dollars for Waveny and related town recreation facilities, including:

•  The town pool at Waveny, now the Steve Banko Pool;

•  Turf fields at Waveny;

•  Paddle tennis courts and hut;

•  Lighting for the Water Tower fields; and

•  Most recently, securing funding and personally forming NCRink Inc., the nonprofit that has operated the New Canaan Ice Rink for the past four years.

Those projects share a common model: limited public dollars leveraged by private generosity, volunteer leadership, and a clear commitment to facilities that families actually use. The new playground follows that same path. Friends of Waveny Playground, Parks Superintendent Ryan Restivo, Parks and Recreation Director John Howe, the Department of Public Works Director Tiger Mann, local donors, and state partners all played essential roles.

"Public-private partnership is not a slogan in New Canaan. It is how we built the pool, the fields, the courts, the lights, the rink, and now this playground. I am proud to have supported these projects as a neighbor, as a Town Council member, and as State Representative. The millions raised over the nearly thirty years I have been a resident are a testament to this town's civic spirit," Rep. O’Dea said.

Representative O'Dea thanked First Selectman Carlson, Parks Superintendent Ryan Restivo, Parks and Recreation Director John Howe, Public Works Director Tiger Mann, the Friends of Waveny Playground Committee including Monica Capela, Hilary Ormond and Meredith Tobitsch, the Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz, Department of Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto, and the many New Canaan families and businesses whose names appear on the donor walk.