DARIEN, CT — About 14 months after Darien closed on the purchase of Great Island, the town is ready to embark on the next phase for the 60-plus acre property.
Last week, the Great Island Advisory Committee hosted staff from Reed Hilderbrand, the landscape architecture firm tasked with developing a master plan for the island. The meeting served as an introduction for the next phase and a roadmap of what’s to come over the next year or so.
The meeting was held at Darien Town Hall and is available to view on demand on Darien TV79.
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“We first heard about Great Island’s availability about 28 months ago in March of 2022. We closed on the purchase about 14 months later in May of 2023, and then we finished purchasing the [traffic] circle on 23A six months after that,” said GIAC Chair and Selectman Monica McNally. “This work took a lot of time, it took a lot of effort and it took a lot of teamwork. We will own this property forever, and we need to approach it with careful planning and patience. While this may take many years, it’s important to start now to ensure that our residents can begin enjoying the benefits of this acquisition soon.”
Beka Sturgis, partner in charge from Reed Hilderbrand, said the firm’s charge over the next year is to identify a vision and then turn that into a specific actionable plan where there are projects that can be implemented.
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Sturgis spoke about the different directions residents and officials can take when it comes to Great Island and what it can offer.
“One of the big questions we’ve identified as a sort of fork that needs really careful consideration for the community, is how much do we activate the island, and how much do we preserve the island?” Sturgis said. “Even as you think about activation, is it for large events where routinely there are 500 to 1,000 people to celebrate something, or is it more of a state of 10 to 50 people going for a stroll and it always feels quiet? There’s a lot of control that the community holds in terms of how the island becomes activated, and we need to weigh in on that.”
Preservation could be related to the natural wildlife on the island and the existing structures.
“Preservation is clearly a major path forward for Great Island, but exactly what we mean by preservation is something we’ll have to come to find together,” Sturgis added.
There are two tempting directions for Great Island, Sturgis added: “returning to nature” and enhancing wildlife and natural habitats, or creating an “estate for all.”
“That’s this idea of opening the doors of these historic, beautiful buildings, and really giving everyone a taste of what it feels like to be on such a great terrace and imagining stables for one’s own use,” Sturgis said. “There’s sort of an amazing fantasy, but also a realization of just how magnificent it is to live in a space like this, so how do we make this everyone’s home.”
Structures on the property include equestrian facilities, a deep-water dock, 13,000 square foot manor, a three-bedroom stone house, farmhouse, beach cottage and a seaside bungalow.
Notably, Reed Hilderbrand worked on The Breakers, the Gilded Age mansion in Newport, RI that’s been restored and opened to the public.
The vision plan is estimated to take six months to complete, with the masterplan and concept also slated for six months. A final cost model will be created as part of the “wrap-up” phase early next summer, Sturgis said.
To that end, Reed Hilderbrand and the town will offer opportunities for the public to get involved in the process.
“This is going to be a public green space, and we want to hear what the community really wants to see,” said Michelle Tong of Reed Hilderbrand, who will handle community outreach during the project. “There will be several different opportunities in different formats for the public to engage with our design team and consultants.”
Four community workshops designed to garner feedback and information will be scheduled over the next few months:
There will also be “experiential engagement” events.
Tong said these could include signage or hands-on activities at Great Island to engage residents and get input. The first experiential engagement could take place in October, then in January 2025 and April 2025.
The third prong of community outreach will involve engaging with focus groups that deal with issues like conservation, education, water sports, and more
A tentative schedule showed focus group meetings taking place in September, November, January 2025, March 2025 and May 2025.
Reed Hilderbrand said it’s also in the process of developing a social media presence and website to keep the public informed.
A brief discussion was held following comments from Sturgis and Tong, and focused mainly on access and parking at Great Island.
Access to the island is one of the first big hurdles for officials, and the widening of the access road to the property is expected to be complete before the end of the year, Sturgis said.
On parking, Sturgis said it’s “relatively achievable” to get around 100 parking spaces at Great Island as a baseline.
“There are solutions, there are some parking solutions,” Sturgis said. “We don’t think we’re going to ever have 600 or 700 parking spaces, and even getting upward of 250 is going to be very challenging for Great Island.”
Other access options,through bicycle or boat, are expected to be discussed in the future.
You can watch last week’s Great Island Advisory Committee meeting with Reed Hilderbrand on demand on Darien TV79.
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