Park users

Dog walking

Hiking Trails

Stormwater infrastructure

Structured play

Playground

Physically accessible

Multi-use grass areas

Age- and abilityinclusive

Swimming pool

Ballfields

Tennis

Laurel Park provides mountain biking trails, a place for dog walking through the early successional woods, fishing and wildlife interactions at Laurel Pond, and the opportunity for quiet contemplation while resting next to the slowmoving water of the pond. Main users of Laurel Park are adults, teenagers, older kids, and animals including dogs, great blue herons, and painted turtles. Bliss Park can be separated into southern and northern portions, roughly bisected by Cooley Brook. Active recreation is concentrated in the southern portion, with a renowned Boundless Playground, baseball fields, basketball courts, a tennis court (currently closed) and a swimming pool (currently closed since it drained into the Cooley Brook). The playground and sports fields create a steady flow of families and park visitors, though these visitors usually limit their activities to these areas. When many of these visitors were interviewed, they were not aware of the presence of Cooley Brook just beyond the fields and swimming pool. Users of the active recreation areas are mostly families with young kids and toddlers, older folks, and sports teams. Lastly, the northern portion of Bliss Park is frequented by similar users as Laurel Park, with more dog walkers, but the upland and intact forest ecosystem provides a different landscape experience and more diverse wildlife habitat. Despite these distinct functions, the parks are unified by Cooley Brook, and the necessity to increase balance in the brook’s system so it can function as stormwater infrastructure for the town. The different parks and functions must be addressed individually but also with attention to how they interact with each other and how Cooley Brook interacts with each. As part of the community engagement process for this project, the Conway team created a public survey asking park-goers about their experience in Laurel and Bliss Parks with an emphasis on their experience with Cooley

“I agree with efforts to sink and slow stormwater but worry about the expense. While history is important, the remnants of the old waterworks are a bit of an eyesore.”

“I have heard of dogs getting sick from going in the stream due to high bacteria levels so I avoid the stream.”

Laurel Pond (16)