Forum Offers Ideas From Youth For Development Of Fairfield Hills

By Tanjua Damon

The crowd was small, but the discussion and ideas raised about the needs of the youth in Newtown were sincere. Students gathered to give town administrators their ideas of what could be done for the development of Fairfield Hills that will benefit everyone in town, including the youth.

The High School Youth Advisory Board (HSYAB) invited middle and high school students to come and talk with parents, community leaders, and town administrators about their ideas and concerns. A similar forum led to the creation of the teen center that is now located on Church Hill Road.

“Tonight we thought we could come together to solve the problem of Newtown, not being a boring town, but one lacking in entertainment and anything to do,” Gregg Hammond, co-chair of the HSYAB said.

Bob Stowell co-chairman of the Newtown Youth Services Board of Directors moderated the forum that was held on November 8. There were about 25 people in attendance who wanted to help come up with ideas to help determine things that would help Newtown’s youth have things to do.

The young people noted that there are basically three activities for teens in Newtown – go to the movies, attend the teen center, or hang out in the Big Y parking lot. Some even explained that they had to leave town in order to find something to do or eat even.

“We always go to other towns to go to McDonald’s,” Lauren Harmata said. “A lot of times we go to a football game and have to go to another town to get food because we don’t want to go to a My Place where you have to sit down.”

The development of Fairfield Hills is in its early planning stages and the purpose of the forum was to try to come up with some ideas that might be worked into the plans. Some of the ideas mentioned included a bowling alley, skate park, community recreation center, dance club, miniature golf, concession stand, and drive-in movie.

Newtown Police Chief Michael Kehoe explained to the group that the town is looking for ways to develop Fairfield Hills that might accommodate some of the kids’ suggestions. HSYAB members invited the first selectman, Legislative Council members, Board of Education members and other community leaders to the forum. Present were Chief Kehoe, school resource officer Gladys Pisani, teen center director Amy Mangold, and Newtown Youth Services Director Debbie Richardson, as well as 12 students and six parents.

Dickinson Park used to be open to teens during evening hours over the weekend, but that is no longer the case.

“It brings to mind several years ago, they did open Dickinson Park with that reason in mind,” Chief Kehoe said. “The interest waned after three or four months. We can certainly revisit that. It has some supervision, which I think the town wants for liability reasons.”

Several of the youth were unsure of what the teen center actually had to offer them. It is opened every Friday and Saturday night to high school students, except the second Friday of each month, which is dedicated for middle school students. It is a place to hang out, play pool or fuzz ball, listen to music or a band that might be playing. The teen center is under the direction of Newtown Parks and Recreation.

“Fairfield Hills represents a fair amount of potential,” Mr Stowell said. “This is a good start.”