Sunday, December 21, 2008

Snow scenes from McCarthy Park



From the only park in downtown Middletown, courtesy of Fred Elmore.

5 comments:

archdiva said...

Pretty! But um...Union Park doesn't count?

Anonymous said...

Great pics! What a great park! Where is it? I live in the downtown and I've never even heard of McCarthy Park.

Anonymous said...

These are great photos! If your kids are not ready for Foss Hill, the newly reinforced slope in McCarthy Park is a good alternative.

McCarthy Park is located behind High St. between Loveland St. and Church St. It is accessible from Hotchkiss St. or from the pedestrian access on High St. (across from Huber Manor). Enjoy this open space in all seasons!

Anonymous said...

McCarthy Park is located between Hotchkiss Street and High Street, south of Church Street. It is set behind homes on three sides, but can easily seen and accessed on Hotchkiss Street down the block from Café-ology on Church Street.

The park was formally named City School Field and was once the site of high school football games (evidence of the stadium seating can be seen among the bare winter trees). It is now an open green space active with field sports like soccer and ultimate-Frisbee, and has courts recently renovated for basketball and tennis. This fall, basketball became so popular that neighborhood groups would often be seen waiting to use the one hoop.

Over the weekend, neighborhood children met to sled down the park’s newly terraced slope for the first time. Though not nearly as grand as Foss Hill, the gentle slope was easy to climb up and allowed for many joyful rides down. They played till their fingers got numb. Then they walked (and bicycled) home for hot cocoa.

Fred Elmore

Izzi Greenberg said...

Another great option and another downtown park is Donovan Park, adjacent to Macdonough Elementary School. It has a gentle slope too, heading down to the baseball field. Those of you who remember when the Children's Circus of Middletown used to be there will also remember sitting on that hill watching the show. It's a great spot and is used in a similar way by people in the North End neighborhood.