Before we move on to discuss a seemingly impossible possibility for Stratford, namely more open space, let’s take a look at some of the open spaces with which Stratford is already blessed. For instance, did you know Stratford has 42 parks and open spaces? That’s right: 42. Can you name them? Let me give it a try.
(1) Academy Hill; (2) Beach Drive Park; (3) Birdseye Launching Ramp and Fishing Pier; (4) Bond’s Dock and Fishing Pier; (5) Booth Memorial Park; (6) Clover Field/Janosko Park; (7) Elliott Street Park; (8) Exchange Park; (9) Far Mill River Park; (10) Frank DeLuca Hall of Fame Field; (10) George Force Basketball Court; (11) Great Meadows Marsh; (12) Great Meadows Park; (13) Greenway Walking Trail; (14) Greg Ackley Park; (15) High Park; (16) James Farm Road Open Space; (17) John Chanda Park; (18) Juliette Low Park; (19) Long Beach; (20) Longbrook Park; (21) Lordship Park; (22) Lyric Park; (23) Mac’s Harbor; (24) Motil Pond Park; (25) Paradise Green; (26) Peck’s Mill Pond Park; (27) Pirhala Farm; (28) Postal Marker (DAR); (29) Raven Pond Park; (30) Remington Gun Club/Stratford Point; (31) Roosevelt Forest; (32) Russian Beach; (33) Seawall; (34) Short Beach; (35) Spring Pond Park; (36) Stonybrook Field; (37) Stonybrook Park; (38) Stratford Festival Theatre Grounds; (39) Town Hall Green; (40) Veterans’ Park; (41) Woodend Park; and, (42) Wooster Pond and Park. Whew!
You may find the location of all these open spaces on the town’s website. Not all of these open spaces are owned by the town and some of them have very limited access to the public. Some of the open spaces are very small, but to the residents who live by these open spaces, they’re extremely important to making the neighborhood special. In addition to these 42 open spaces, we’re hoping to add Stratford Point Lighthouse and its surrounding grounds.
However, there is one more open space that we drive by any time we drive down Broadbridge Avenue between Greenfield Avenue and Emerald Place. There are 420 acres of woodlands on the western border along Broadbridge Avenue. Originally, these 420 acres were owned by Remington Arms Company of New York. Over the years, and through mergers and corporate restructuring, this large open space (once known as Remington Woods but now rechristened as Lake Success Park) is now owned by Corteva, a $47 billion agriculture giant.
On Wednesday, October 15th, Corteva opened the property for a short bus tour, as they’ve done several years in a row. They also presented the most recent proposal for the future use of this property. The proposal, if it can be realized, states that the 420 acres will be opened for walking trails, with an entrance on Broadbridge Avenue. About 78 acres of this property lies within the borders of Stratford.
If Corteva’s plans for Lake Success Park are realized, they’ll be opening a property to Stratford residents that exceeds Roosevelt Forest in size. The property is mostly wooded, with many wild animals living on the site. What a boon that would be to our town, but especially to those residents living along Broadbridge Avenue and up through the Second Hill Lane area.
Corteva plans to build a Nature Center next to the Broadbridge Avenue entrance, and encourage school students to engage in nature studies there. So, almost magically, considering that Lake Success’ one time owner (DuPont Corporation) was planning to build an industrial park on this site, Stratford could soon add more open space to its already abundant open spaces.
If you would like to view Corteva’s presentation from last Wednesday night, you may do so at https://5il.co/3rbgy.
David, Thanks for highlighting these town riches.