The City of Ridgefield is seeking public input through an online community survey, open until Feb. 2, to shape the future developments and modifications to Abrams Park.
This community survey, released on Jan. 2, delves into various aspects of local residents’ experiences with Abrams Park. The survey asks participants about their proximity to Abrams Park, the frequency of their visits, and reasons for rare or non-visits and the elements of the park they value most, such as trails or spaces for picnics. The survey also asks participants what currently existing features of the park they are most interested in using, as well as what their greatest concerns are regarding the park.
The questions included in the survey indicate a possible direction for the park’s future. Although the park’s plan has not been developed, city officials may use the survey results in future decisions about the park’s development or improvements. Possible improvements include developing new trails, improving park accessibility and updating the park’s current baseball and soccer fields.
Once the survey period concludes, consultants working with the parks manager will take the results into consideration while developing a final draft of the Abrams Park 2024 plan to present to the parks board. The parks board will then make a final recommendation to the City Council, which will make the final decision.
Consultants from AKS Engineering & Forestry, Audrey Bomar and Kirsti Hauswald, are currently working on developing the Abrams Park Master Plan with Parks Manager Corey Crownhart. Bomar and Hauswald provided the Ridgefield Parks Board with a brief update during a meeting on Jan. 11, revealing they received 264 responses within the first week of the survey’s launch.
“I’m very pleasantly surprised,” Hauswald said. “I was worried ‘are we gonna get a lot of feedback?’ and it’s been great.”
Bomar mentioned the community’s vested interest in its parks, particularly Abrams, during her address to the Parks Board.
“It goes without saying this community is incredibly invested in our parks and in Abrams specifically,” Bomar said.
Once the survey concludes, Bomar, Hauswald and their team will use the collected data to formulate concepts for future park uses. These concepts will then be presented to the City Council for consideration and discussion. Hauswald said the results of the survey will be revealed to the City Council in February, with hopes that it will adopt the proposed plan in April.
Following the AKS Abrams Park Update, Crownhart presented the 2024 Parks Board Work Plan to the board. The work plan will lay out the groundwork for the year’s current and upcoming park plans. The board, however, took no immediate action on the plan. Instead Crownhart will present a revised format of the work plan in February, with no alterations to the plan’s content. The parks board is expected to review the revised 2024 Parks Work Plan final draft during its next meeting on Feb. 14.
The Abrams Park community survey is available to fill out online until Feb. 2 at ridgefiel droundtable.org/abrams-park- master-plan/surveys/communi ty-survey.
