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NORWALK, Conn. – Norwalk has closed Calf Pasture Beach, Veterans Memorial and Cranbury parks until further notice due to damage from Hurricane Sandy.
All vehicular and pedestrian traffic will be prohibited at the three parks because conditions have been deemed unsafe.
Mayor Richard Moccia, on behalf of the Norwalk Parks and Recreation Department, made the announcement Wednesday.
A date for when the parks will be reopened has not been released.
Comments (3)
Ken, I can appreciate your willingness to use Norwalks Parks system, but I will speak first hand on why they were closed to vehicles and pedestrians. It is now the monumental task of the Parks Department to clean up the mess you see in the above picture, which is only a small fraction of what really exists. This is very difficult to do when there are pedestrians, and especially children, using the Parks. Before Calf was closed after Hurricane Irene, we had small children running around our backhoes, loaders, and trucks (as curious small children will), which became so much of a safety issue, I had to stop the cleanup until the Park was officially closed. Currently, there are hanging limbs in trees, loose/broken light fixtures, and various buried debris (ie. pier decking) containing long/rusted nails....all a hazard to walking pedestrians. In regards to the "masonry and stone on the sidewalk anyway" after the last storm event, we were instructed by FEMA how and when to clean up that mess. Thank you for your cooperation, and I can assure you the Parks Department will be working expeditiously to clean and reopen all the Parks as soon as it is safe to do so.
Ken Hughes
Superintendent of Parks
It was a good call.
I can see closeing them to vehicles but not pedestrians. I mean whats the point? They closed them last year and then opened the beach with masonry & stone on the sidewalk anyway. Unless theres some wires or other actual hazard its almost an insult to tell tax payers we can't survey the damage or use our parks.