Greenwich's Bruce Park Nominated For 'Best City Park' In The Country

GREENWICH, CT — Bruce Park, one of Greenwich's crown jewels, has been nominated for "Best City Parks 2023" by USA Today and their 10Best Readers' Choice Awards.

Residents can vote for the best city park in the country until Feb. 6 at 12 p.m. The top 10 winning parks will be announced on Feb. 17.

There are 20 nominees, and the current leaderboard has Bruce Park ranked 5th. It's the only park in Connecticut that's nominated.

"City parks provide space to connect with nature and the community. The best city parks offer a variety of activities for residents and visitors that range from playgrounds and community gardens to skate parks and live performances," USA Today's 10Best said on its website.

Robert Moffat Bruce donated his home, which is now the Bruce Museum, and 100 acres to the town of Greenwich in 1908, making Bruce Park the town's oldest public park.

The park includes sports and athletic fields, tennis courts, walking paths, ponds and waterways, and scenic views of Long Island Sound. It also features a popular playground for families for children, and has been the home for various cookouts, events and charity races.

For First Selectman Fred Camillo, a Greenwich native, Bruce Park holds a special place in his heart since it's where he learned how to ice skate during the winter. With music playing and a hot chocolate stand, Camillo said the scenes there were out of a Norman Rockwell painting.

"Personally, it's always been my favorite park for many reasons. I have lots of memories with the park, going back to being a child. Speaking for everybody in town, we're forever grateful to the family that has its name attached to the park, but equally thankful for all the people who contributed to it over the years," Camillo said, highlighting town employees and residents for helping to keep the park clean and beautiful.

The town is looking to protect Bruce Park forever by designating the area as a local historic property.

Camillo said the idea came after the town talked about expanding the old "mosquito barn" on the eastern side of Bruce Park to facilitate a possible move of the Parks and Recreation building out of Roger Sherman Baldwin Park.

Residents nearby reached out to Camillo with concerns about the future of the park, and Camillo assured them the town would not move Parks and Rec. operations there.

Last year, Greenwich Historic District Commission member Anne Young went before the Board of Selectmen to ask the board for their endorsement to examine and study the components and merits of Bruce Park for the historic designation.

Young said at the time the designation would have two benefits.

First, it would support the town's 2019 Plan of Conservation and Development — or POCD — and the Planning & Zoning Commission's wishes to identify historic aspects of the town and seek appropriate designations.

The other benefit, Young said, is that any change made to a property that has such a designation must receive a certificate of appropriateness. Construction or structures must fit in with the surroundings.

In November 2022, Young told the board that study is nearly complete.

After the report is completed, it will get submitted to the state and Greenwich's Planning & Zoning Commission for review.

The Representative Town Meeting will have the final vote on ratification.

"The town really has always acted in a way to protect the park, but this movement and endeavor would be to basically get it in writing," Camillo said