Two Milestones for CT’s Mill River Park and Greenway

Stamford, CT, 5/18/2006: The Mill River Collaborative and The Trust for Public Land (TPL) announced today that they are close to meeting a $25,000 challenge grant provided by the Fairfield County Community Foundation earlier this year, just days before a massive, all volunteer effort to build a playground in the heart of the Mill River Park and Greenway.

“The Fairfield County Community Foundation has been a fantastic supporter of the Mill River Park and Greenway since this project’s inception,” said Arthur Selkowitz, Chairman of the Mill River Collaborative. “This particular grant has allowed the Collaborative and The Trust for Public Land to reach out to individuals and members of the corporate community and generate a great deal of new support. We hope that through donations from the hundreds of volunteers participating in the playground building effort next week, we will meet the Foundation’s challenge by the end of the month.” Selkowitz said that TPL and the Collaborative were about $3,000 away from meeting the challenge.

The Mill River Playground is at the corner of Tresser Boulevard and West Main Street. The playground’s designer worked with over 200 Stamford middle school children to create an imaginative playscape that will appeal to a broad age range of children. During the week of May 15th, hundreds of volunteers, including large teams from local companies including GE, UBS, and Pitney Bowes will construct the playground.

Mayor Dannel Malloy expressed his hope that the playground will attract children from all over the city, “The City and the Mill River Collaborative are working closely to insure that this is a world class playground and that it will be a clean, safe, and exciting place for the neighborhood that surrounds it and that folks will come from all over Stamford to use it. We’re thrilled that so many members of the community are participating in the creation of this space.”

When completed, the Mill River project will add 26 acres of open space to the downtown area of Stamford, creating a signature park in which downtown workers and neighborhood residents can relax, picnic, and enjoy nature. The park will also become a central link in the larger Mill River Greenway, planned to reach Long Island Sound.

The Fairfield County Community Foundation was formed in 1992 and named 2005 Outstanding Connecticut Foundation by the Connecticut and Fairfield County Chapters of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. The Community Foundation manages assets approaching $72.6 million in over 220 different donor funds established by individuals, organizations, families, and corporations to strengthen Fairfield County. In 2005, the Community Foundation awarded more than $7 million in grants to nonprofits dedicated to community and economic development, children and youth, women and girls, health and human services, the environment, the arts, and non-profit organizational effectiveness. For more information visit www.fccfoundation.org. or call (203) 834-9393.

The Mill River Collaborative is a coalition of community, civic, and business organizations and individuals committed to creating and sustaining a successful Mill River Greenway. The Collaborative includes The City of Stamford, the Stamford Urban Redevelopment Commission, the Friends of the Mill River, The Downtown Special Services District, The Stamford Partnership, and representatives of the business and West Side residential communities. Their vision is to have a world-class urban park in the Mill River Corridor that will serve as both an oasis in city life and a vibrant, diverse green space for the Stamford community.

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national nonprofit organization that works with others to conserve land for people to enjoy as working landscapes, parks, gardens, and natural areas, ensuring livable communities for generations to come. TPL has a long-standing commitment to improving open space opportunities in urban communities, and its work on the Mill River Greenway is a major component of its Parks for People program in New England. For more information, please visit www.tpl.org/connecticut.