Who owns Great Island today? 

Great Island is owned by the Town of Darien, and was purchased in May 2023 from the Steinkraus Family. The Town’s purchase of this property is a monumental addition to public space in Darien, increasing the town’s publicly accessible waterfront property by 50% and overall greenspace by 11%. A beautiful landscape with roughly one and a half miles of coastline, Great Island is a tremendous opportunity for the community to experience the water and the Long Island Sound. 

How can I visit Great Island? 

We are thrilled to welcome you all to experience this beautiful site. Great Island is in Phase 1 of opening for the public!  Currently, public access to Great Island is limited to pedestrian use (i.e., on foot) of the paved roadways on the Island, and it is open to pedestrians daily from sunrise to sunset. 

You can find the full list of rules here. 

How can I participate in the project? 

We will be having four community workshops throughout the 12-month vision plan, which we invite you to participate in. You can find details about the events on this website or on our social media accounts.  

There will also be opportunities to submit your dreams for the Island through a series of surveys, shared after these public engagement events. We will also be sharing those survey links on this website after the workshop.  

If you want to stay up to date on the latest progress, follow us on social media for the latest public outreach events! We will post details about how to attend and engage with us for each one scheduled.  

IG: @GreatIslandCT