#Middlebury #BristolPark
By MARJORIE NEEDHAM
Developers David Theroux and Frederick W. Blasius Jr. have donated to the town of Middlebury an 11.69-acre parcel of land adjacent to Bristol Park that doubles the size of the 11-acre park. Theroux said he hoped the town would use the land to provide a safer route for Memorial Middle School students. “I didn’t like seeing the kids walking on Memorial Drive to get to the Greenway,” he said.
The donated land was part of a 44-acre parcel on which the developers have created four building lots. Theroux noted the lots have both sewer and water available.
View a map of the park and the donated parcel here. Bristol Park is outlined in black on the map. Acreage donated by local developers is outlined in red. The northern boundary of the donated acreage is approximate as updated maps are not yet available. (Town of Middlebury GIS map)
In addition to the land donated adjacent to Bristol Park, the developers donated nearly 14 acres of land on the other side of Kelly Road. Theroux said the developers didn’t need the land. “I felt the town would be a better steward of the land than I,” he said.
Middlebury First Selectman Edward B. St. John said he thought the land donation was a wonderful gesture. “We sincerely thank them for the wonderful donation,” he said.
Theroux also donated the beautiful new lights around the handicapped ramp at town hall. “We thank Dave for all he has done for the town,” St. John said.
He said the land donation will allow the town to expand Bristol Park. “It works perfect as an addition,” he said.
St. John said William H. Bristol originally gave the land for Bristol Park to the state and it served as a roadside stop in the days when families who were traveling would pack a picnic and stop for lunch along the way. The town petitioned the state to take over the land and acquired it from the state in 1986.
He explained the land is on both the north and south sides of Route 64, partly because Route 64 was moved sometime in the past and split the piece of property. The south side is the section between Steinmann Avenue and the Greenway.
He said his dream for sometime in the future would be to somehow extend the greenway across to the park, perhaps through a pedestrian walkway, so students from Memorial Middle School could get to the Greenway without having to walk on Memorial Drive. He said Memorial Drive was never set up for pedestrian traffic.
Developer Theroux’s long list of projects since 1973 includes residential subdivisions on Woodfield Drive, Cross Road, Tower Road, Highland Drive, Midway Drive, Reagan Road and Park Road Extension. He also owns the land where the proposed Granite Woods age-restricted development will be built off Nutmeg and Stevens Road.
His commercial projects have included Southford Road acreage for a 9,000 sq. ft. building, the office building at 390 Middlebury Road and the Webster Bank building at 400 Middlebury Road. He has built and designed more than 50 homes and developed more than 125 building lots.
The website CTMQ.org published a 2019 article on Bristol Park titled “Mr. Bristol Deserves Better.” It went into quite a bit of detail about William H. Bristol’s many accomplishments and wondered why someone as important as he was “gets just a little roadside park in Middlebury.” The author apparently was unaware that Bristol himself donated the land. Now that the former 11-acre park has grown to more than 22 acres, perhaps the author will delete that comment.
