Bridgeport children were front and center in designing the programmatic uses of the stormwater retention park that will be a feature of the resilience strategy. The project team hosted two participatory planning charettes to gauge input from children and local residents on designs that they would like to see incorporated into the stormwater resilience park. A plan of the park was laid out, and Bridgeport residents of all ages used scaled cutouts to add their ideas for park uses. Ideas ranged from water features to projected movies, handball courts and more. 

The afternoon session focused on working with local children and the evening session displayed the children’s ideas and engaged current Marina Village residents, South End residents, and other local stakeholders. The project team is currently working to build the park program based on the collected community feedback, design parameters, and budget restrictions. 

The team has also continued to advanced stormwater modeling calculations, setting design limitations and revealing design opportunities for water management within the park and along “green” streets.  Understanding more clearly the stormwater capacity of the park, the design team began focus on the particulars of park programming and design.

The State will host two public hearings on the amendment: one on May 1st at 1pm at the Department of Housing at 505 Hudson Street in Hartford and one on May 10th at 7pm at the Eleanor at 695 Park Avenue in Bridgeport. https://resilientbridgeport.com/archive/