Oyster Shell Park

Norwalk, CT

CLIENT: City of Norwalk

Tom Tavella, FASLA was the project manager and lead designer for improvements to Oyster.

Shell Park.  Part of the larger Norwalk State Heritage Park, which is a mixed urban development area situated on the Norwalk River waterfront. The Norwalk State Heritage Park links together a number of distinct attractions.  Oyster Shell Park is flanked on both sides by two of the most heavily visited parts of the Heritage Park: the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium and Mathews Park, which includes the Lockwood Mathews Mansion, the Stepping Stones Museum for Children, and the Center for Contemporary Printmaking. These are the anchors that draw visitors to the area.  The first phase of the project included evaluating the existing resources of Oyster Shell Park, a former landfill, to design appropriate short-term infrastructure improvements. In addition, the Tavella Design Group prepared recommendations for a long-term plan with new park amenities, a projected construction budget, and identify possible future funding sources.