Nicholas Kaplanis Director of Recreation
Address:	7 East Hayestown Road Danbury, CT 06811
Telephone:	203-797-4632
FAX:	203-797-4634

About Us:
    The Parks and Recreation Department for the City of Danbury offers extensive programming opportunities for residents, young and the young at heart, to participate in recreational activities or enjoy our leisure facilities.  Our park maintainers work diligently every day to ensure every facility is manicured and has been carefully prepared to ensure optimum use of that playing surface, whether it is for a game or practice session.  Parks staff also maintains 101 other sites at public places and schools throughout the city; planting flowers, pruning shrubs, trimming trees and mowing and trimming grass.
    The City of Danbury has 1,381 acres designated for park and recreational use distributed as follows:  884 acres of special use parks, 256 acres of natural resource areas and 186 acres of City parks.  The Parks & Recreation Department oversees the use of 15 schools for playgrounds and ball fields, accounting for 55 acres.
    The Parks and Recreation Department sponsors summer programs each year including Red Cross swimming lessons which encompasses an Adaptive Swim Program for children with special needs, a four-week Summer Playground Program for elementary school students and a four-week Safe Summer Program for middle school students.  These programs have given an opportunity to over 650 children in our community to participate in summer fun and learning while visiting many of Danbury’s resources such as Tarrywile Park, The Danbury Historical Museum, Candlewood and Kenosia Lakes and our spray parks.  
    In addition, the Recreation Department in conjunction with Paracare International administers the new Danbury Community Garden located on Miry Brook Rd.  Each year we rent out 10 plots to city residents for the summer season.

  
Our Accomplishments:
    In the past year, the Recreation Department, in partnership with Danbury Youth Soccer & Danbury Children First sponsored T.O.P.S. Soccer for children with special needs for all ages as young as five.  With the help of volunteers each child had someone on the field to encourage and assist them as they played and learned the game in a non-competitive environment.  This program is offered in the spring and fall sessions. Additionally, we started “Jump for Joy” a creative movement and music class for children 2 to 5 years of age as well as children with special needs.  This class meets once a week during the summer at Hatters Pavilion.   There are many new and exciting projects in the works for the coming year.  The department continues to explore new opportunities to enhance the programs offered for pre-school age children. We will also focus our attention to integrating our diverse young population in public and private programs. 

    Each year Parks & Recreation supports many non-profit organizations which include: PAL Wrestling, Boys and Girls Basketball, Girls Softball, Field Hockey and Swimming, Danbury Youth Cal Ripken and Babe Ruth Baseball, DAYO Trojans Football/Cheerleading, T-Ball, Flag Football, Middle School Basketball, Boys and Girls Lacrosse, Women’s Softball, HCYS Vikings Football/Cheerleading/Dance and Elementary School Basketball.  In addition, grant money is provided to the Danbury Westerners Collegiate Baseball Team.