Bruce Park in the running for USA Today’s national favorites
GREENWICH — Bruce Park in downtown Greenwich is one of the town’s jewels, but how does it compare to other top public parks across the country?
Bruce Park has been nominated as one of the nation’s best city parks as part of USA Today’s 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards along with 19 other nominees.
Park fans can log on to cast a vote for Bruce Park or any of the other nominees now through April 8 at noon when voting closes. The top 10 vote-getters will be announced as winners on April 17. Readers can vote once per category, per day.
Other nominees include Boston Common, Telluride Town Park in Colorado, Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, Liberty Park in Salt Lake City, Railroad Park in Birmingham, Alabama and more. These 20 parks were nominated by a “panel of experts” convened by USA Today.
Golden Gate Park in San Francisco was No. 1 on the voting leaderboard as of Tuesday morning, followed by Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri and Wildwood Preserve Metropark in Toledo, Ohio.
Bruce Park was ranked 11th in the voting as of Tuesday after finishing fourth overall last year.
Bruce Park is Greenwich’s oldest public park, home to various athletic fields, tennis courts, walking paths, ponds and waterways, views of Long Island Sound and the beloved Bruce Park Playground.
Robert Moffat Bruce, a 19th century textile magnate, donated 100 acres of land to the town in 1908 prior to his death in 1909. His former home is now the Bruce Museum.
First Selectman Fred Camillo said all the nominees are great, but parks should be thought of holistically, including their surrounding environments and other local attractions.
When asked if Bruce Park
“I’ll stick with Bruce Park, but certainly no disrespect to Hawaii’s park.” First Selectman Fred Camillo
was nicer than Ala Moana Regional Park — a beachfront park in Honolulu — Camillo’s commitment to Greenwich was unwavering.
“It’s like comparing baseball players from different eras, right? You have to take everything into consideration: Where they’re located, what they’re up against, what’s the climate,” he said.
“I’ll stick with Bruce
Park, but certainly no disrespect to Hawaii’s park.”
Visit the USA Today website to vote in the best parks contest.