News: Upgrade Your Play: Vote on the New Playground Design for Seymour Park

New Playground Coming to Seymour Park
Community Members Asked to Vote on their Favorite Playground Design

Bristol, CT – [July 5, 2023] – Bristol Parks, Recreation, Youth and Community Services (BPRYCS) is excited to share that a new playground is coming to Shrub Road’s Seymour Park in Bristol, CT. Now, the department is asking the community for their input on what that playground is going to look like. Voting on the new playground design opened on July 5^th via the department’s online Parks Project Portal. Community members are encouraged to review proposed playground plans and renderings and then vote for their favorite design. 



Community members are able to vote between two proposed playground designs, one featuring a castle and ship theme, while the other boasts three towers for climbing. Both of the proposed playground designs serve children ages 2 to 12 and include elevated and ground level accessible play elements, swings, slides, and benches.

“Selecting the new playground design is the next step in the department’s ongoing Upgrade Your Play campaign, which launched in 2022,” explained BPRYCS Superintendent, Dr. Joshua Medeiros. The campaign aims to use community needs and feedback in an effort to better deliver high quality facilities to Bristol residents. “It began with the addition of a variety of swings at Federal Hill Green, which was based directly on user feedback. That snowballed into using community feedback and a vote to guide the selection process for the playground at E.G. Stocks Playground and Casey Field,” continued Medeiros.

“Community members cast over 2,000 votes when asked to vote for their favorite playground design for E.G. Stocks Playground. We’re hoping to continue that momentum and engagement into the selection process for the playground design for Seymour Park,” added Community Engagement Coordinator, Erica Benoit.  “The playground at Seymour Park has been in need of some T-L-C for a while now. Seymour Park has been identified as a priority for residents in the most recent Master Plan Site Analysis and Community Survey, the Capital Improvement Plan, and the Strategic Action Plan. The park is newly home to Bristol’s first dedicated pickleball facilities and resurfaced basketball court and abuts the recently opened Pigeon Hill Preserve. A new playground is really going to complete the transformation of Seymour Park this year. I can’t wait to see what design the community picks!” Benoit explained.   

Voting will be open for two weeks; until 5:00 PM on Wednesday, July 19^th. Community members can cast their votes by going to the Parks Project Portal at www.Bristolrec.com and visiting the Upgrade Your Play page for Seymour Park. Funding for the playground is allocated from the General Fund and Capitol Improvement funds.

For more information on the Upgrade Your Play Campaign, please visit www.BristolRec.com. For comments or questions related to the campaign, please contact Erica Benoit, Community Engagement Coordinator at ericabenoit@bristolct.gov or (860) 584 – 6160.