Some New Britain residents have said that the city needs more recreation programs and better parks.
Julio Acevedo, 18, said the city is in desperate need of a recreational makeover. He is a Central Connecticut State University student who is majoring in mechanical engineering.
“I would say, as a whole, the parks are a point of stagnation,” Acevedo said.
He said there have been no meaningful changes in the parks.
“In terms of, at least nearby places, New Britain is like the last place you wanna go if you wanna do something like actually entertaining,” Acevedo said.
Acevedo said that if you want to do something other than going out to eat, you mainly have to leave the town.
“This city needs recreationally, it needs any sort of change, even if it doesn’t end up working out in the end, just something new that people can do with their families,” Acevedo said.
Jaden Sergeant, 18, said that parks are satisfactory and that the changes being made are satisfactory as well. Sergeant goes to Tunxis Community College and spends a lot of his time playing basketball ball or shopping and going out to eat in the city.
“I feel like there is enough to do in New Britain,” Sergeant said. “I would ask [the city] to add more city pool events.”
Leah Skinner, an academic advisor for liberal arts at CCSU, said she is pleased with what New Britain has to offer. Skinner is a mother of a single child, and said there are many programs available for her daughter to participate in.
“We’ve taken advantage of quite a bit of the activities that happen around here,” Skinner said. “We rely on a lot of the things that happen, like Santa that happens in downtown, and when we have the community do Trick or Treat.”
Skinner said the summer is the best time to find activities and participate in. She added that the camps that are available during April break for school children are also very convenient.
“My daughter participated in the New Britain Parks and Rec April Vacation Camp,” Skinner said.
Despite this, Skinner said she wishes there were camps for other times as well.
“Maybe if they did something over Christmas break that would be nice too,” Skinner said. “Because unfortunately myself and my husband, we typically work that whole time around.”
Matt Scofield, the New Britain Parks and Recreation coordinator, said that there are many projects going on around the town and that there are seasonal brochures with event information.
“The best thing there is to do is to go on our website, nbparksandrec.org, and our Facebook page and social media page to look at what we have going on,” Scofield said.
He said that the pools are open for entire weeks during the hottest time in the summer through June and July. On Facebook, there are events posted almost every week for what is to come, including concerts and farmer’s markets during the colder seasons.
