Ridgefield student advisory council pitches ideas for new park

Ridgefield — Members of the Ridgefield School District’s Superintendent Student Advisory Council recently met to come up with a design plan for a new park outside of View Ridge Middle School.

The council is made up of 12 students from grades four through 12, representing each of the district’s four schools. They meet monthly with Superintendent Nathan McCann to discuss various ideas.

Thanks to a $78 million bond voters passed in 2017, the district will open a new fifth-eighth grade campus across South Hillhurst Road from Ridgefield High School for the start of the 2018-19 school year. The district will move students from the downtown View Ridge campus to the new one, and the district will re-purpose View Ridge with offices for a few city departments, administrative offices and meeting space.

The students tossed around ideas for the park, such as a community garden, playground for early-learners and an amphitheater. Professional architects and landscape designers were at the meeting, as well.

“They’re thinking about the big picture, about everybody that’s using the space, not only kids coming to play but even the users of the new renovated building, including the early learning components and everything about the site,” Trevor Chayce of LSW Architects said in a release from the district. “Everything that they’re generating here today will be utilized in the final design. We’ll be able to work with this team and refine a lot of the ideas to be reflected on the site in the future.”