Crisco helps kickoff state park centennial commemoration

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Joseph Crisco
Joseph Crisco

HARTFORD — State Senator Joseph Crisco, Jr. (D-17) helped kickoff a statewide, year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Connecticut’s state parks Aug. 1.

Crisco was among a host of state dignitaries that came together at Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill to mark the occasion.

“We are so fortunate in our part of the state to have such a wide variety of parks and forests nearby and available to residents, including West Rock Ridge State Park, with extraordinary views of New Haven and Long Island Sound, Osborndale and Indian Well State Parks straddling the Housatonic River, and the expansive Naugatuck State Forest in the highlands above the Naugatuck River,” Crisco said in a news release. “These parcels were set aside and preserved over the past 100 years because of their aesthetic and historic significance and we are the beneficiaries of that foresight to this day.”

Crisco said some major upgrades planned for Connecticut’s state parks in the near future include a new nature center at Hammonasset State Park in Madison, a renovated pavilion at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport, and utility and technology upgrades at many other state parks.

“The positive economic impact of our state parks is said to be more than $1 billion per year, so it behooves us to invest in these extraordinary properties to improve and preserve them so they’ll be enjoyed — and in time cherished — by Connecticut residents for generations to come,” Crisco added.