Conservancy Master Plan
In 2017, the Board of Directors of the Elizabeth Park Conservancy adopted a Master Plan for Elizabeth Park. The Master Plan will guide development in the Park for the next five to seven years. The landscape architecture firm of Anne Penniman Associates LLC developed the Master Plan for the Conservancy. The Master Plan was funded by an Ignition Grant to the Conservancy from the Greater Hartford Arts Council, as well as supplemental grant funding from the Ethel F. Donaghue Trust for Elizabeth Park.
For a copy of the Master Plan, contact Christine Doty at cdoty@elizabethparkct.org.
Anne Penniman and Associates has received recognition for their work on the Master Plan, including a 2018 Honor Award from the Connecticut Chapter of American Society of Landscape Architects.
Notable recommendations (some of which the Conservancy has implemented) contained in the Master Plan include:
- Repurposing of the Brownstone building off the main parking lot into a Visitor Education & Welcome Center, complete with public restrooms
- Reconfiguration of some of the parking areas near the Visitor Center to accommodate buses and visitor parking near the facility
- Building a permanent stage on the Rose Garden lawn
- Planting an allée of spring blooming trees coming in from the pedestrian entrance off Fern Street
- Constructing a boardwalk along the side of the pond, and one through the wetlands area in the Western Loop
- Constructing a grand entry from Asylum Avenue
- Refurbishing the rhododendrons along the informal path from Prospect Avenue down to the Rose Garden and making this area into a rhododendron dell
- Working towards uniform signage and pathways throughout the Park
First-ever Visitor Center in Elizabeth Park
The Elizabeth Park Conservancy has repurposed the Brownstone building off the main parking lot into a Visitor Center and is reconfiguring and adding to the parking areas near the Visitor Center.
The Brownstone building (now the first-ever Visitor Education & Welcome Center in Elizabeth Park) was built in 1938. It is a historic building located next to the main parking lot. The architects began work in early February 2018, drawing up designs for the remodeling and repurposing of the Brownstone building and for the additional parking adjacent to the center. Construction began in November 2019 and completed in spring 2020.
The Visitor Center will be staffed and will be the focal point, especially for first-time visitors to Elizabeth Park, but it will also be a place where every visitor will be able to find answers to questions about the Park, obtain printed information and maps, view information on video screens and kiosks, find small souvenirs of the Park, and find public restrooms.
Support the Visitor Center:
The Conservancy welcomes donors’ participation in this project, and will recognize donors, once the project is complete, on a special plaque inside the new Visitor Center.
Visitor Center Challenge Grant – Donor Recognition Levels
$25,000 Special Naming Opportunities
$10,000 Benefactor
$ 5,000 Patron
$ 2,500 Supporter
$ 1,000 Friend
If you are interested in supporting this exciting new Visitor Center project, click here, or call the Elizabeth Park Conservancy's President and CEO, Christine Doty, at cdoty@elizabethparkct.org 860-231-9443, ext. 102.
Other Projects in the Master Plan:
If you are interested in learning more about the Master Plan recommendations and/or think that you may wish to support a recommended project, please contact Christine Doty at 860-231-9443, ext. 102 or cdoty@elizabethparkct.org.
