Schedule:

At Town Hall

10:15 AM: MORNING REFRESHMENTS

• Coffee Meet n’ Greet

10:30 AM: PRESENTATION

• Reed Hilderbrand & Design Team - overview of project

timeline, Great Island findings, community feeback and

design team analysis

11:15 AM: Q&A

• Opportunity for community to engage in questions about

the Great Island Vision Plan

12:00 PM: SESSION ONE END

At Great Island:

(Reservations are required for shuttle seats to Great Island. Please email greatisland@darienct.gov to reserve a spot on a first-come, first-served basis.)

1:00 PM-3:00 PM: GREAT ISLAND ACTIVITIES

• Guided Tours: Architecture: Interior Tours, Ecology

Tree Walk, Children’s Treasure Hunt

• Self-guided Tours Table: Great Island Landmarks

• Field Guides: Great Island’s Ecological Communities

3:00 PM: SESSION TWO END

The Great Island Vision and Master Plan design team, led by Reed Hilderbrand, is thrilled to invite the residents of Darien to attend the first community engagement workshop set for Saturday, September 21, 2024.

Both sessions are free and open to the public and will cover the same information through different experiences.

For the afternoon session on Great Island, visitors will meet at the Great Island Stables at 2:00pm. Given that there is no vehicular access or parking available currently on Great Island, walk-ins to the stables are highly encouraged. There will be a limited number of seats on shuttle buses leaving Pear Tree Point Beach at 1:30 PM. Shuttle capacity is limited, so reservations are required to secure a seat.

To RSVP for a spot on the shuttle, please email greatisland@darienct.gov. Seats are subject to availability on a first-come, first served basis and are not guaranteed. Reservations will be confirmed via email in the order they were received.  

The public is welcome to park on their own accord at Pear Tree Point Beach and walk to the Great Island stables (about a 20-minute walk).  

At the stables, a brief project introduction will be shared before splitting into groups for a series of guided Great Island walks, led by the design team. The walks will return to the stables, where residents can interact with activity stations, like the morning session. At 3:30 PM, the shuttle will bring visitors with reservations back to Pear Tree Point Beach. 

The Great Island Vision and Master Plan design team, led by Reed Hilderbrand, is thrilled to invite the residents of Darien to attend the first community engagement workshop set for Saturday, September 21, 2024.

Both sessions are free and open to the public and will cover the same information through different experiences.

For the morning event, residents will meet at the Town Hall Auditorium, where an introduction presentation to the masterplan will be given, followed by time for residents to interact with activity stations to learn about Great Island and share their hopes for the future. RSVP is not required to attend the morning session at Town Hall.