City of New Haven rendering
A sketch of the proposed new Long Wharf Drive park.
City and state officials imagined a not-too-distant future when New Haven residents and visitors alike can comfortably walk along, eat by, play at, and enjoy a rebuilt and amenity-rich waterfront park, as they celebrated a recent $12.1 million windfall for Long Wharf’s coming transformation.
That vision came into a bit clearer focus Friday afternoon during a press conference held on the second floor of the Canal Dock Boathouse at 475 Long Wharf Dr.
Mayor Justin Elicker, City Engineer Giovanni Zinn, State Sen. and President Pro Term Martin Looney, City Plan Director Laura Brown, State Rep. Roland Lemar, Hill Alder Carmen Rodriguez, and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz (phew!) each took turns at the mic to herald $12.1 million in aid that the state is sending New Haven’s way as part of the second round of grants under the Community Investment Fund 2030 (CIF).
All $12.1 million will be used to design and build out Long Wharf Park and make the other park-adjacent improvements described at Friday’s presser.
Hill Alder Carmen Rodriguez at Friday's presser.
This is “really a time to transform Long Wharf,” Zinn said.
“The growth of this is gonna be phenomenal,” added Rodriguez. “Our Hill residents appreciate what is happening here.”
City Engineer Giovanni Zinn.
As Zinn explained Friday, some of those planned improvements include
• Building a 20-foot wide promenade along the water that stretches from the southern to the northern ends of the park;
• Closing down Long Wharf Drive as a through street (cars will still be able to access the area for parking and to get to the food trucks), and building out a “woonerf” and more parking outside of the Canal Dock Boathouse to reduce car speeds, allow for pedestrian and bike access, and increase parking capacity, all while reducing the amount of impervious pavement;
• Adding picnic tables and a “large tensile fabric” covering to provide shade for food-truck customers to eat in comfort, all while keeping the food trucks in place (and reorienting them to point towards the water);
• Creating a large lawn on the northern end of the park with fitness equipment for adults and a playscape for kids and a “market area” for farmer’s markets and other public events;
• Potentially adding a new pier to increase water access to the park, and building out space for “outdoor classrooms” and other opportunities to play in and enjoy the water.
Click here to read a previous article about the state’s awarding of this $12.1 million grant, and click here for more about the city’s broader plans for the waterfront district, would see a park and pedestrian-friendly walkway where cars now travel on Long Wharf Drive, an automotive trade school where the former Gateway building is on Sargent, and a new home base for all of the APT Foundation’s New Haven substance-use treatment programs.
Mayor Elicker ...
... and City Plan Director Laura Brown.
“We want projects that build communities,” Bysiewicz said when explaining why the city’s Long Wharf-focused grant application for state aid was so successful. “This project does that by connecting communities to the water,” especially given that Fusco still plans on building 500 new apartments right next door at the site of a current restaurant.
Zinn said that his team plans to spend roughly a year putting together a detailed design and review for the project before beginning construction.
“Our parks are some of our most cherished resources,” Elicker said. The improvements that this funding will allow for will ensure that Long Wharf Park is a place that will provide residents and visitors alike with “more access to our shoreline” in a convenient, comfortable, and beautiful way.