Park Features

1. Location: The park is roughly bordered by Lakewood Road, Farmwood Road, Great Brook Reservoir, and woods
2. Description
   1. ​Lakewood Park is, by far, the largest park in all of Waterbury
      1. ​More than 4 times larger than Fulton Park
      2. More than 8.5 times larger than Bucks Hill Park
3. History
   1. ​Opening: 1897
      
   2. ​For decades, Lakewood Park was also an amusement park
      1. the primary attraction being one of the oldest roller coaster in the United States
         1. In 1931, Waterbury prepared for an amusement park which would have a grand opening to include a roller coaster, named Meteor
         2. The grand opening took place on Saturday, May 30th, 1931
         3. This was the only municipally-owned and run amusement park in all of New England
         4. The Waterbury Coaster Company leased the land use from the City of Waterbury under a 15-year contract, although some sources indicate that the contract was for 10 years
         5. One version of the roller coaster was dismantled in 1933, after, reportedly, only 3 years of operation
            1. Our math totals to under 2 years
   3. A baseball diamond was installed in 1933, where the current parking lot is
4. Features - Outdoor Recreation:
   1.      Water
      1. Splash Pad: ​No
      2. Swimming: Lake
         1. No.
            1. Swimming at the lake has been prohibited for the majority or whole of every season for about the past 16 years
               1. (Currently closed due to excessive bacteria)
               2. The city has done nothing to combat the excessive geese feces nor the resulting (poisonous) bacteria
      3. Ice Skating:
         1. Seasonal
            1. although not in many decades
               1. the city has done nothing to promote ice skating nor the safety of ice skating
                  1. despite it's popularity
            2. the city has done nothing to keep the water feature at the lower pond working properly
               1. which has caused an environmental and ecological change to the pond
      4. Drinking Water:
         1. There are at least 2 water fountains remaining
            1. only a fraction of the once abundant dozen water fountains at the park
            2. both either don't operate correctly or don't operate at all
         2. Pathetically, there is no existence of any drinking water
            1. anywhere near the basketball court
            2. anywhere near the handball court
            3. anywhere near the beach
            4. anywhere near the new playscape
            5. anywhere near parking
            6. anywhere near handy-cap parking 
      5. Fishing:
         1. Yes,
            1. some people fish near the southern dam of the big lake,
            2. and along parts of Farmwood Road north of the park beach where the roadway dissects the reservoir.
            3. The reservoir is generally stocked with fish annually
      6. Chess Tables
         1. No
            1. At least 4 chess tables existed for decades at the park
               1. after their natural decay, the tables were never replaced
      7. Picnic tables
         1. Although many dozens of picnic tables were once available, very few or no tables are currently available
      8. Barbecue Facilities
         1. Although well over a dozen permanent stone barbecue facilities were once scattered throughout the park, 3 or fewer currently exist,
            1. each is in a state of extreme neglect
   2. Sports
      1. ​Tennis:
         1. No
            1. despite the size of the park, several appropriate locations within the park,  and the popularity of the sport, tennis has never been a part of Lakewood Park
      2. Basketball: 1 court
      3. Bocce
         1. No
            1. Despite the size of the park, several appropriate locations within the park, the extreme popularity among tens of thousand of surrounding residents, the relatively extremely low installation cost and extremely low maintenance cost, the high population of Italians in the city and particularly in the areas surrounding the park (bocce is a Roman invention and has been a popular Italian sport for more than 2,000 years), bocce has never been a part of Lakewood Park.
      4. Handball: 3 courts
   3. Children's Playscape:
      1. 1 area for young children, 1 area for children (these locations are separated by a significant distance, and can neither be seen nor     heard from each other)
      2. Parking:
      3. ample off-street parking
      4. 4 handicap locations
   4. Cooking:
      1. 9 grills (mostly in great disrepair)
   5. Lavatory Facilities:
      1. No
         1. Although large facilities exist, they are always locked and unavailable
      2. trees and bushes, mostly along the perimeter, may provide alternate relief
      3. occasional portable facilities exist for
         1. the Handballers or
         2. Construction workers
   6. Shade:
      1. ample tree shade
      2. ample grassy areas of shade
         1. mostly in largely dirt and very sparse grass areas
      3. Excessively large carousel housing
   7. Sun:
      1. ample un-shaded areas
      2. ample grassy areas of sun
         1. mostly in largely dirt and very sparse grass areas
      3. ample beech areas of sun
         1. although these areas are being infiltrated with grass
      4. Missing and never-replaced gazebo
         1. A relatively extremely low cost gazebo existed for several decades at Lakewood Park
            1. Storms caused tree damage to the gazebo on at least 3 occasions, separated by several years
            2. The city did nothing to maintain the gazebo, and
            3. The city did nothing to replace the gazebo
   8. Lawn:
      1. plentiful
      2. sparsely grassed
      3. much is interrupted by tree roots
      4. typically maintained often
      5. arguably cut way too low
   9. Amusements
      1. The Famed roller coaster at Lakewood Park is long gone.
         1. The feature lasted nearly 3 years
      2. The Merry-Go-Round is also long gone
         1. The intricately-designed horses are still in use
            1. Traveling throughout much of the eastern states
            2. Most-recently known to be in up-state Vermont
         2. Some have been, and may still be, part of a museum display
         3. The remaining carousel building is of the oldest in existence in the United States
5. Geography
   1. ​142.68 acres
      1. ​One parcel of 100.52 acres
      2. ​One parcel of 3.75 acres
      3. One parcel of 5.85 acres
      4. One parcel of 32.13 acres
      5. Once parcel of .43 acres
6. Motorized Vehicles:
   1. All motorized vehicles are forbidden throughout the park, except in marked and designated areas;
      1. ​This includes all land vehicles and all water vehicles
   2. Operation of any motorized vehicles anywhere else may result in heavy fines, costs to repair destruction of property, other violations such as disturbing the peace, and imprisonment.  This prohibition includes, but is not limited to: motorcycles, ATVs, dirt bikes, automobiles.

Did You Know?

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Back in the day, this park was known as "Greater Lakewood Park".

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Also, back in the day, thousand of people each year went for speed boat rides on the Greater Lakewood Park lake.

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During Waterbury's economic height, the "Brass Barons" would frequent the park, typically on Friday evening, to enjoy a "private" band.  Lore dictates that there was always 1 waiter per 2 park guests.  Only the wealthiest of the rich would attend, so the lore continues.

Lakewood Park Swimming: Unsafe

Swimming has yet again been banned at Lakewood Park as of Wednesday, August 17th, 2016, after city Health Department inspectors found the water (bacteria and contamination) levels to be unsafe.  Inspectors will return on Thursday, August 18th, 2016, to retest the water.  20160817

All pictures in this slideshow were taken by a staff photographer in the summer of 2013 with a Canon EOS Rebel XS.

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