Batterson Park Reopening Plan Topic Of Farmington Forum

FARMINGTON/HARTFORD, CT — The future of Batterson Park, which is located in Farmington/New Britain, is the topic of an informational forum in Farmington Wednesday.

Batterson Park is owned by the City of Hartford, but its area covers land in New Britain and Farmington, with Its official address being 76 Batterson Park Road, Farmington.

On Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 6:30 p.m., the City of Hartford will host a public information meeting about plans to resurrect the long-dormant recreational hub.

It will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the Farmington Town Hall council chambers.

Batterson was shuttered in 2015 when the city faced financial constraints, harming its ability to staff, maintain, and operate the park, which has fallen into disrepair.

Hartford's difficulty in maintaining what is, essentially, a city park (even though it's not within city boundaries) had state and city officials floating the idea of creating Batterson State Park, putting the recreational site under the purview of the State of Connecticut.

But efforts to do that a year ago failed to garner necessary state approval, leading to an agreement among state, city, and nonprofit sources to operate the facility.

As a result, a deal was arranged to reopen Batterson Park in July 2025 under the umbrella of Riverfront Recapture, a Hartford non-profit that happens to manage multiple parks in the greater Hartford region.

Those parks are East River Park in East Hartford; Riverside Park in Hartford; Mortensen Riverfront Plaza in Hartford; and Charter Oak Landing in Hartford.

The deal would also include input from the City of Hartford, which still owns the property and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which recently conducted an environmental survey of the site.

According to the Hartford Courant, the 145-acre pond on site would not be available for swimmers yet, but the $7 million project to reopen it would include a splash pad, picnic pavilions, a kayak/canoe launch, fishing pier, bird-watching tower, and a playground/hiking trails.

Questions can be directed to City of Hartford Director of Capital Projects Paul Drummey at paul.drummey@hartford.gov.

For the full report in the Hartford Courant, click on this link.

From Dec. 1, 2023: 'Batterson Park's Future Topic Of Forum In Farmington'

From March 24, 2023: 'New State Park In Greater Hartford Area Pitched By CT House Speaker'