MIDDLETOWN — A Middletown lawmaker has proposed legislation that would create a new state park on several large plots of open space in the southern part of the city.
State Rep. Brandon Chafee, D-Middletown, who introduced the bill, would like to see several parcels totaling 2,000 acres near the Haddam town line turned into a recreation area for outdoor enthusiasts.
Middletown is unusual compared to municipalities across Connecticut in terms of acreage dedicated to open space, according to the city.
Chafee, who grew up in the Maromas section of the city, where the preserve would be located, is an avid outdoorsman interested in preserving natural resources.
“I have very fond memories of hiking in the woods my whole life,” he said.
The proposal involves integrating a “patchwork” of parcels near the Connecticut River, CT State Community College Middlesex, and Connecticut Valley Hospital reservoirs, as well as others owned by the state of Connecticut, and Middlesex Land Trust (Shailer Tract).
Eversource has transmission lines and right of ways there as well, said Chafee, an engineer who works for the utility company.
The area is adjacent to the Mattabesett Trail loop trailheads off Aircraft Road, which leads to Pratt & Whitney.
The bill is in the conceptual phase, said Chafee, who is conducting initial research to determine who owns what.
“The overarching goal is to preserve as much of the land as we can for recreational use,” Chafee said. “The town has done a good job over the course of decades preserving parcels of land."
In 2005, the city received 256 acres of open land previously associated with Connecticut Valley Hospital.
Chafee, who sits on the state’s Planning and Development Commission, is interested in conservation.
There is much to explore in Maromas, known for its “pristine” lakes, brooks, streams, rock features, granite ledges, mountain laurel preserve and more, he said, making it a “classic New England forest.”
In her 2022 Conservation Corner column, Ellen Lukens, former member of the city’s Commission on Conservation & Agriculture, called Maromas Middletown’s “Last Great Place.”
“It was once the site of a small farming community and a pegmatite quarry for extracting feldspar,” Lukens wrote. “Some think that the name Maromas is a corruption of an old English word ‘Marmoric,’ meaning ‘White Rock.’”
State Sens. Jan Hochadel, D-Meriden, and Matthew L. Lesser, D-Middletown, along with state Rep. Kai Belton, D-Middletown, are cosponsoring the legislation.
For more information, visit the Connecticut General Assembly 2025 bill tracker.
This story has been updated to reflect the proposed state park would be 2,000 acres.
Jan 27, 2025
Cassandra Day
Reporter
Cassandra Day is an assistant managing editor with the Middletown Press. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist and resident of the North End of Middletown who has been reporting nearly every facet of the city for over two decades.