Town Looks To Designate Bruce Park As A Local Historic Property

GREENWICH, CT — Bruce Park is one of Greenwich's crown gems, and the town is looking to highlight that by designating the area as a local historic property.

On Thursday, the Board of Selectmen kicked-off the process by unanimously voting to appoint the Greenwich Historic District Commission to examine and study the components and merits of the park for the designation.

"What the study committee does is it produces a report that discusses exactly what is in the local historic property, its boundaries, some of the architectural history and of course some of the historic and social history," said Anne Young, a member of the Historic District Commission, on Thursday.

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

"With each step of the way, there are various opportunities for the public to weigh-in," Young said. The Representative Town Meeting will have the final vote on ratification.

Several residents have volunteered to underwrite the cost of the study report, which is usually conducted by an architectural historian.

Greenwich currently has four local historic properties and three local historic districts. Bruce Park would be the first park on the list if it's ultimately approved.

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

"Lots of residents and friends over in the Bruce Park, Mead Point, Indian Chase areas reached out to me," Camillo said. "I assured them we were not going to move the [Parks and Rec] operations there, but they were concerned about future moves by people... We've really protected that park over the years. I suggested to the residents that maybe we ought to move to see if we can get this whole park designated as an historic area."

Young said 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.

"Having a local historic property designation does not prohibit what you can and can't do at a particular site, itt just encourages the design for what's being proposed is appropriate," Young said.

Young pointed to a bridge built in the park by Eversource that doesn't match with the other stone bridges in the area.

"If Bruce Park receives the designation and that situation were to come up again, Eversource would have to, according to state statutes, receive a certificate of appropriateness for the next bridge design," Young explained.

Young said Bruce Park has a "very, very exciting history." It's the town's oldest public park, having been built in 1908 through a bequest of Robert Moffat Bruce.

The proposed area being considered for local historic property designation is from I-95 to Kinsman Lane, then to Bruce Park Drive, Indian Field Road, Davis Avenue and back to I-95.

The period of historical significance for the park, according to documents from the Historic District Commission, is 1908 to 1958. Such periods are defined by the National Park Service as the span of time for which an historic landscape attains historical significance.

During this 50-year timeframe, the park was established and its major physical features were constructed, which included ponds, roadways and recreational facilities. In those years, Greenwich added granite curbstones and various plantings to enhance the visual appeal of the park.

Camillo, Selectwoman Lauren Rabin and Selectperson Janet Stone McGuigan all supported the study committee

"Bruce Park is one of our most beautiful parks. It's got a great, great history. Certainly anything we can do to protect that I think this is a step in the right direction," Camillo said.