Work has begun to improve playground at Gatison Park in Ansonia

Ansonia Mayor David S. Cassetti and Superintendent Tim Holman check out the work that is starting at Gatison Park.

Creative Recreations, LLC is supplying the new playground equipment. The old playground equipment has been removed to make way for the improvements.

This project will be one of many park improvements in Ansonia slated for this year./ City of Ansonia photo

This is shared from the City of Ansonia Facebook page.

Elected officials ask Ansonia residents to complete Gatison Park survey

Gatison Park in Ansonia / Contributed photo 

ANSONIA - State Rep. Kara Rochelle (D-Ansonia, Derby), 1st Ward Alderman Dan King, and attendees of the Gatison Park community meeting are seeking community participation for a survey on the most favored improvements.

Residents of the 1st and 2nd Wards of Ansonia, along with anyone else who uses the park, are especially encouraged to participate, but all Ansonia residents are welcome to take the survey.

During the 2024 legislative session, Rochelle was able to secure $100,000 in state dollars for Gatison Park improvements. 

This funding will be sent to the city to be used on the park with the city having authority on specific improvements for which the funds will be used.  Attendees of a Gatison Park community meeting developed the idea of the public survey to involve the entire community. 

The Gatison Park group wants to make sure the true needs and priorities of the neighborhood are voiced to the administration.

“This is a great way to get involved and make sure everyone’s voices are included,” said Rochelle. “Hearing the neighborhood’s input is the best way to make sure that Gatison is more kid-friendly, welcoming, and safe for all and specific improvements that residents favor are prioritized,” she said.

“This is a great opportunity for members of our community to have input in this project,” Alderman King said. “This park is for the residents in the neighborhood so we feel it should reflect their needs and wants.”

This is a bipartisan effort to reflect Ansonia community needs. 

The survey can be taken at this LINK: https://www.housedems.ct.gov/Rochelle/GatisonSurvey.

Rochelle serves the 104th District, which includes Ansonia and Derby.

This is from a press release from Rochelle's office.

Rochelle announces state grants to improve Ansonia Riverwalk

Friends and Neighbors,

I'm thrilled to share that $272,000 in state funds are being awarded to the 104th for the Ansonia Riverwalk! 

These state funds, administered through the Connecticut Recreational Trail Program, will be used for planning and design on the existing paved trail along the Naugatuck River Greenway.

As the weather warms up and more people are taking advantage of the Valley’s Riverwalk system, I am proud to see more funds infused into improving this gem that so many of us use to stay fit, enjoy the scenery, and spend time outside. This critical boost in state funding will allow for necessary improvements, and I want to thank all involved in this team effort to secure funds.

The Connecticut Recreational Trail Program is releasing approximately $9 million in state grants to plan, build, expand, and improve a total of 50 multi-use trails across Connecticut. 

I am proud to have Ansonia’s section of the Riverwalk system included in this funding.

Please feel free to contact me with any thoughts and concerns you may have on Kara.Rochelle@cga.ct.gov or 1-800-842-8267. Follow my Facebook page for regular legislative updates.

All my Best,

Rochelle lauds $1M in state aid for Cicia Manor upgrades in Derby

Kara Rochelle

HARTFORD - State Rep. Kara Rochelle, D-Ansonia/Derby, this week applauded the announcement of $1 million in state aid awarded to Derby’s Housing Authority for improvements to Cicia Manor, which provides housing to elderly and disabled residents.  

The funding, administered by the state Department of Housing with resources from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is part of $13 million in Community Development Block Grants awarded to 13 municipalities across the state after a competitive application process. 

The grants will help provide infrastructure upgrades that will modernize and rehabilitate housing for low and moderate-income individuals.

“I want to thank and praise all parties, as this was a true team effort," Rochelle said.  "Of note, a warm thank you to Derby Housing Authority Chair Linda Fusco for spearheading these effort, coordinating state and local officials, and being the soul and force behind the work. I’d also like to thank Derby Housing Authority Commissioner Adam Pacheco for joining me in Hartford to meet with state Department of Housing officials to advocate for Derby’s needs; Grant Writers Patty Finn and Peter Testa for their well-crafted application; Derby’s State Elderly Coordinator Ellen Oczkowski who coordinated much of the local data, Mayor Richard Dziekan and the Derby legislative delegation, state Rep. Themis Klarides, state Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria, and state Sen. George S. Logan for their letter of support; Gov. Ned Lamont, state DOH Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno, and her team for seeing the value in allocating resources to our community, and many others who have had their hand in bringing this to fruition for our residents.  When we work together, good things happen.”

The proposed scope of work for Cicia Manor is to create three new ADA-Complaint residential units and make ADA upgrades to the Community Building. The kitchen area will be renovated. The existing bathrooms will be redesigned to address access, floor space, turning radius, approach zones, and clearances. 

The electric baseboard heating system will be supplemented with a heat pump significantly reducing electrical usage, and generator installation will allow the community building to be used as a place of refuge for all residents in the event of power outages.


This is a press release from Rochelle's office.

City to celebrate improved Abe Stone Park at Colony Pond in Ansonia

Ansonia rejuvenates Abe Stone Park, Colony Pond site

Workers Wednesday finish painting first-ever parking lot lines at one of two lots at Abe Stone Park./ City of Ansonia photo

ANSONIA - Mayor David S. Cassetti’s promise to rejuvenate Abe Stone Park and Colony Pond continues with lining of two on-site parking lots, repairing and repainting of basketball court, and installation of a boat dock. 

Numerous other improvements have begun and will be completed in the coming weeks including adding volleyball, hiking trails, picnic tables and grills.

The improvements are being funded by the Mayor’s new City Beautification Fund with generous donations from Home Depot, Regional Water Authority, Frank Pepe Construction, ION Bank, Southern Connecticut Dental Group, United Illuminating, Eversource, Homa Pump Technology, and collectible Wakelee Avenue Trolley Track sales. 

Stay tuned for a grand ribbon-cutting event announcement in June.

*This information is shared from the City of Ansonia Facebook page.

Derby demolition on south side of Main Street completed

Shared from Mayor Richard Dziekan's Facebook page:

"Last building down on south side of Route 34. Moving forward."

Four buildings were taken down this month to make room for the Route 34 widening project.

City starts improvements at Abe Stone Park in Ansonia

Ansonia Mayor David S. Cassetti posts trail markers at Abe Stone Park./ Contributed photo

ANSONIA - Things got under way at Abe Stone Park last weekend with a ceremonial first hiking trail marker placement by Mayor David S. Cassetti. 

The marker signifies the beginning of many upcoming recreational improvements at the park planned by the Mayor for this summer.

Volunteers continued hanging markers along the estimated mile-plus long hiking trail with expectations of finishing mapping of the remaining trail route this week. 

“My goal is to make Abe Stone Park and Colony Pond a recreational attraction once again for our residents,” Cassetti said. “It has been long neglected and needs refining. I can’t wait to see this completed.”

The trail will also outline the Colony Pond perimeter and proceed into the hillside woods an additional mile, looping back to the pond. An estimated 200 feet of boardwalk will be added over marsh areas and the pond-feeding brook with funding provided by Home Depot and construction by Emmett O’Brien Technical High School carpentry students. 

In the coming weeks, volunteers will clear the trails of any litter while pruning branches along the hiking route.

Also on tap for this summer is repairing of the basketball court and kids playground, adding volleyball, picnic tables, cooking grills, opening of the Colony Snack Shack, and adding a boat dock to allow canoes, kayaks, and rowboats on the pond.

In April, the DEEP will once again stock the pond with trout and catfish for public fishing. 
A long-term plan by Cassetti is to make a small area of the pond suitable for swimming once again.


This is a press release from Ansonia City Hall.

Klarides-Ditria says DOT to improve exit 22 on and off-ramps in Seymour

SEYMOUR - State Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria announced today that improvements will be made by the Department of Transportation to the exit 22 on and off-ramps on Route 8. 

Klarides-Ditria wrote a letter in 2017 asking the Department of Transportation to review the safety of the exit 22 on and off-ramps on Route 8 in both directions. 

"I received many complaints that exit 22 on Route 8 was unsafe," said Klarides-Ditria. "I want to thank the Department of Transportation for reviewing this matter and making the necessary improvements to the area to prevent accidents and keep residents safe."

The DOT will enhance the visibility of the curve in the vicinity of exit 22 by installing signing and will relocate existing warning signs to warn drivers earlier of the curve. 

In addition, retroreflective delineators will be installed on the median barrier.

This is a press release from Klarides-Ditria's office.

Crisco, Gentile welcome funding for Derby Public Library repairs

DERBY - State Sen. Joseph J. Crisco, Jr., D-Woodbridge, and state Rep. Linda Gentile, D-Ansonia, - both of whom represent Derby or a portion of Derby in the legislature – are welcoming a recent decision by the State Bond Commission to pay half the cost of needed repairs to the Derby Public Library.

The State Bond Commission voted on Sept. 30, 2016 to approve $100,000 to repair water damage and make exterior pathway improvements at the Derby Library; the total estimated cost for the two projects is $200,000.

Funding for the Derby Library renovations was included in the 2007 state bonding bill, which was approved on a bipartisan and nearly unanimous vote of 162-1 in the House and Senate.

“The Derby Library is over 110 years old, and I think it took about 90 years to even update it,” Crisco said, referring to the library’s 7,200 square-foot addition in 1990 that essentially doubled the size of the building that is on the National Historic Register.

“Now the state is chipping in on the cost of repairing this building, which continues the tradition of public-private investment that began in 1902 when Mr. and Mrs. Wood donated the land, the building, and $5,000 for library books on the condition that Derby match those funds and maintain the library. I am proud to say that a century later, the State of Connecticut is helping Derby and its residents to keep that promise, and to protect and preserve this gorgeous and valuable community resource.”

“Despite the advancement of technology, libraries continue to serve a vital service to the community,” Gentile said. “These funds will help to safeguard their future. Repairing and preserving the Derby Public Library is long overdue.”

This is a press release from Crisco's office.