Project Description
O'Sullivan's Island Recreation Park is located on a peninsula at the confluence of the Housatonic and Naugatuck Rivers in Derby, CT. The park is a remediated Brownfield site that reopened in 2009 after being closed to the public for over two decades. In 2013, the City of Derby completed its portion of the Naugatuck River Greenway trail, a non-motorized multiuse trail that crosses O'Sullivan's Island's northern edge. Once completed, the Greenway will extend for 44 miles from Derby to Litchfield, connecting all 11 communities along the Naugatuck River. To further increase public access to the Housatonic River, the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments (NVCOG) received $350,000 from the Connecticut SubCouncil of the Housatonic River Natural Resource Trustees to construct an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible fishing and viewing platform at O'Sullivan's Island. The platform now allows visitors to directly access Derby’s waterfront along the Naugatuck River Greenway and the confluence of the two rivers is well known to anglers as one of the most dynamic fishing spots in the state. Additional funding for the project was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (WSFR) program.
Parties Implementing Restoration
Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments
DOI Project Representatives
Fish and Wildlife Service