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Tolland Conservation Commission (2021) Print
2021 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Park enhancements
└ Park enhancements
To give older adults in Tolland an outdoor space to gather and spend time, the Tolland Conservation Commission created a new park. The Commission worked with landscape architecture students at University of Connecticut to design Wanat Senior Park, a 13-acre area with accessible woodland trails, space for stargazing, a wheelchair-accessible meadow trail and meditative labyrinth. Engagement with older adults, including a design charrette and guided site tour, informed plans for the park. Volunteers of all ages planted vegetation and helped install hardscaping. The park features a pollinator garden, ADA-compliant benches and a variety of native plants. Public art -- including a sculpture of a heron and a sundial -- welcome visitors to the space.
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See More Projects Like This One
Windham, ME
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: This project will provide an accessible, shaded picnic area to an existing park that will soon be the location of a self-guided walking trail.
Estherville, IA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: To improve its recreation facilities, the City of Estherville asked residents for their ideas about how to improve local outdoor spaces. In response to this feedback, the City added special playground swings at the community's parks that are suitable for users of various skills, sizes and ages. The generation swings are two swings in one -- a combined adult swing and a swing for babies and toddlers. This enables children to swing face-to-face with their adult.
North Las Vegas, NV
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: North Las Vegas hoped to encourage residents to get outside for exercise and recreation. As part of its All the Best Paths are Taken by Foot campaign, the City installed concrete benches along walking paths within city parks. The benches sit along sidewalks and near outdoor athletic courts. When selecting parks to receive the benches, project organizers examined the existing amenities and prioritized areas with larger older adult populations. To help people navigate to nearby parks, the City erected wayfinding signs. Project organizers also launched a social media campaign and distributed flyers showcasing the improvements and describing the health benefits of walking.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Ellington, CT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: The town will install a greenhouse at a senior center's garden, which grows produce for the local food pantry. The greenhouse will lengthen the growing season, enabling volunteers to garden during colder months.
Vernon, CT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project will create a community garden at a senior center. Gardeners will grow fresh vegetables and herbs to supply the center's breakfast and lunch programs.
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