Nicholas Kaplanis Director of Recreation
Address:	7 East Hayestown Road Danbury, CT 06811
Telephone:	203-797-4632
FAX:	203-797-4634

About Us:

          The Parks and Recreation Department for the City of Danbury offers extensive programming opportunities for residents young, and the young at heart. Participants are encouraged to take part in recreational activities or enjoy our leisure facilities.  Our park maintainers work diligently every day to ensure every facility is manicured and has been carefully prepared to ensure optimum use of that playing surface, whether it is for a game or practice session.  Parks staff also maintains 101 other sites at public places and schools throughout the city, planting flowers, pruning shrubs, trimming trees and mowing and trimming grass.  We continue to invest our resources into rebuilding infield surfaces and making improvements with drainage at many of our facilities.

          The City of Danbury has 1,573 acres designated for park and recreational use distributed as follows:  1,076 acres of special use parks, 256 acres of natural resource areas and 186 acres of city parks.  The Parks & Recreation Department oversees the use of playgrounds and ball fields, at 15 schools, accounting for 55 acres.  In addition, there are a number of hiking trials available for use year round which include Bear Mountain Reserve, Tarrywile Park, Old Quarry Nature Center, Still River Greenway and the soon to be opened Farrington property on the west side.           

          The Parks and Recreation Department sponsors summer programs each year, including Red Cross swimming lessons, which encompasses an Adaptive Swim Program for children with special needs, a four-week Summer Playground Program for elementary school students and a four-week Safe Summer Program for middle school students.  These programs have given an opportunity to over 650 children in our community to participate in summer fun and learning while visiting many of Danbury’s resources such as the Old Quarry Nature Center, The Danbury Museum, Candlewood and Kenosia Lakes and our spray parks. 

          The department also administers 13 plots at the Community Garden on Miry Brook Road and the renting of Hatter's Park Community Hall and Pavilion.

Our Accomplishments:

         The department proudly sponsored Summer Movie Nights at Candlewood Town Park, showing four free movies during the month of July.  Over 1200 people enjoyed an evening under the stars with their families in 2010, and we already have more movie nights lined up for 2011.  In addition, the Parks and Recreation Department in conjunction with the CT DEP once again sponsored a Hunter Safety Course for residents.

          Each year the Parks and Recreation Department supports the many non-profit organizations that sponsor a variety of athletic activities offered to all the children in Danbury.  These organizations consist of PAL Wrestling, Boys and Girls Basketball, Girls Softball, Field Hockey and Swimming, Danbury Youth Cal Ripken and Babe Ruth Baseball, Danbury Youth Soccer/Topps, DAYO Trojans Pop Warner Football/Cheerleading, T-Ball, Flag Football, Middle School Basketball and Track and Field, Boys and Girls Lacrosse, HCYS Vikings AYF Football/Cheerleading and Elementary School Basketball.  In addition, grant money is given to the Danbury Westerners Collegiate Baseball Team.

          In the past year the city increased its passive recreation open space by 192 acres with the purchase of the Farrington Property off of Mill Plain Road.  Parks staff have incorporated the new public space to their regular care and maintenance schedule.

          The department was proud to introduce Buddy Ball, a baseball program for children with special needs.  Improvements were also made to several elementary school infields making them more suitable for baseball practice. 

          The department continues to explore new opportunities to enhance program offerings including programs for pre-school age children. We are actively pursuing a suitable location to build a dog park within the new fiscal year, and we will also focus our attention to integrating our diverse youth population in public and private programs.