Preserve Don Tinty Family Park as the Open Space It Was Meant to Be

On Friday night after a long week of work, I grab my dog Cooper and head to the field. My neighbor meets me, her two dogs at her side, and together we walk the winding paths of Don Tinty Family Park to decompress from the week.

Every community has its gathering place. New York has Central Park. Boston has Boston Common. New Haven has New Haven Green. Even the fictional Stars Hollow had its beloved town square.

Here in the southeastern corner of Farmington, we have Don Tinty Family Park.

This 16-acre open space, donated to the town by Don Tinty for recreational use, is far more than a field. It is woven into the daily lives of the families who surround it. It is where neighbors gather, children play, residents walk their dogs along the rails, and families reconnect with nature in a town that continues to grow busier and more developed.

Now, that space is once again under threat.

Farmington faces an ongoing issue: the town is running out of cemetery space, with officials estimating the current cemetery may reach capacity within two to three years. In 2018, town officials identified Don Tinty Family Park as a possible site for cemetery expansion.

Neighbors strongly opposed the proposal, arguing that converting the land into a cemetery would directly contradict the donor’s intent. Ultimately, town leadership agreed not to move forward, acknowledging that the property deed designated the land specifically for recreational use.

The community breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Life returned to normal. Families continued to enjoy the park exactly as Don Tinty envisioned. Residents walked dogs along the trails, jogged through the meadow, flew kites with their children, and sledded down the hill in winter. Some ventured down toward the Pequabuck River to kayak or simply sit quietly and take in the natural beauty. Blue jays nested in the meadow while deer, foxes, and even the occasional bear crossed through the field.

But recently, many of us were stopped cold when we heard whispers that the water table was going to be tested for a possible cemetery project.

Suddenly, it felt like déjà vu.

Neighbors gathered once more and packed the Town Council meeting. For nearly a quarter of the meeting, resident after resident stood before council members to make the same plea: preserve this field. Preserve the purpose for which it was donated. Preserve one of the few remaining natural community spaces in this part of town. Residents also organized a community petition that has already gathered nearly 250 signatures from those who believe the land should not be converted to a cemetery.

This park is not vacant land waiting for development. It is already deeply used and deeply loved.

I write this after spending the last hour in the meadow with my husband, our children — ages 10 and 7 — our dog, and our neighbors. As the sun set over the field, children laughed, dogs happily sniffed their way through the paths, and families lingered in conversation.

It was simple. Peaceful. Unscripted.

And increasingly rare.

My hope is that my children, and future generations of Farmington families, will continue to grow up with access to pure, uninterrupted nature — exactly as Don Tinty intended.