67°
David Martin listened intently as speakers gave an update on the progress of Stamford's planned Mill River Park and Greenway at a downtown meeting Wednesday morning. The former mayoral candidate was among almost 50 city leaders, donors and organization heads attending the event.
Robin Graham was there, too. But the facts, images and projections were nothing new to him. He's had a hand in the project since its inception. At Wednesday's event, he felt a sense of accomplishment hearing the summary of projects undertaken so far, and those yet to be completed.
"I've been involved with this since the beginning. It's great to see it coming together," said Graham, a Mill River Collaborative board member. The Stamford resident also is on the board of the Fairfield County Community Foundation, a supporter of the park/greenway.
"We have an interest in increasing the amount of green space in the four cities in Fairfield County, and this project does that in spades," said Karen Brown, the foundation's vice president of programs. Recent support from the foundation includes a $17,500 grant for the collaborative's fundraising program, as well as an additional $22,500 from two donor-advised funds at the foundation.
That kind of community support will be needed for the project to come to fruition, collaborative Chairman Arthur Selkowitz and Executive Director Milton Puryear told the nearly 50 attendees.
"We've made some very big strides toward achieving our goal," said Selkowitz. Among them: completion of work on the once-stagnant river, professional recognition for aspects of the park's design and a grant awarded for ecological rain gardens.
Plans call for a groundbreaking in spring on Phase 1 Main Street to Broad Street of the three-phase project. That first phase includes installing utilities; building paths, steps and walls; planting hundreds of trees and shrubs; and completing designs of a carousel/event building.
The Mill River Collaborative has raised $3.5 million of a $20 million capital campaign goal.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Stamford and receive free news updates.
