Brainerd Park was family's 'choicest acres' to 'enjoy forever'

Brainerd Park, January 16, 2023

The Agnes Brainerd Memorial Park may be one of Enfield's most underappreciated assets because of its location near the Massachusetts border. It's reasonable to believe that the most significant users of the park are people who live near it or play sports and not those who reside in the town's more distant neighborhoods. Enfield has no central park, and recreational spaces are throughout the town. 

But now that a developer is proposing taking some significant part of this park for a sports complex, we'll learn a lot more about this park in the months ahead. This might increase townwide interest in Brainerd Park and even prompt more people to check it out.

The town is considering a proposal to convert the Mass Mutual property into a sports complex of 11 playing fields, hotels, restaurants, retail, a fitness center, and other entertainment. But the plan includes taking some part of Brainerd Park for the fields, including a new softball field. In exchange, the developer proposes rebuilding the software field, adding bathrooms, a walking trail, and other amenities.

A vigorous debate over the park's future is expected, and it will probably bring renewed interest in its past. 

On April 24, 1958, The Thompsonville Press reported that Miss Agnes Brainerd had offered the town 16 acres of woodlands and fields for a park. The editors thought it was big news. The headline blazed across the front page in upper case, "TOWN TO GET LAND FOR PARK." 

According to the news report, the Brainerd family once had 1,000 acres of land for farming. Miss Brainerd lived in Thompsonville. 

The newspaper reported: "As Thompsonville grew with the years, the vast Brainerd holdings have dwindled and Miss Brainerd said yesterday that she wanted Enfield to share in the history and success of one of its pioneer families." 

"Accordingly, she determined to turn over the choicest acres for Enfield residents to enjoy forever," the newspaper wrote.

The Thompsonville Press was a weekly that began in 1880. It later changed its name to the Enfield Press, which ceased publication in 2020 after 140 years in print. 

A Hartford Courant story from August 2, 1961, reported that picnic facilities, including running water and parking, were now available at the park. 

On May 10, 1984, the Courant reported that the town planned to install a 20-station exercise course along the one-mile trail at Brainerd Park, including a sit-up board and pull-up bar. 

There have been other improvements, such several sports fields and children's playscape, over the town's 65-year history. What's proposed now is the biggest change ever for this park. 

Brainerd Park is now woven deeply into the town's fabric, and changing this park may be the hardest sell for the sports complex supporters.

Brainerd Park softball field