Ribbon-cutting held for Fairfield’s Petra Park

“I’m thrilled how it turned out,” said Alex Stanley, the man responsible for the new park in downtown Fairfield.

The park, located at the corner of West Briggs Avenue and North Main Street, is called “Petra Park,” after Stanley’s late wife, Petra. On Wednesday afternoon, those who had a hand in creating the park gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the park’s completion, its opening to the public, and its transfer to the city of Fairfield.

After the short ceremony, attendees stayed to watch a ballet performance courtesy of Chayse Gilchrist and Ayla Banes. One feature of the park is a ballet pole attached to a mirror. Stanley said that feature was included to celebrate Petra’s love of ballet.

“Whenever the music started, her body started to move, and she was unbelievably graceful,” Stanley said.

Stanley said Petra even considered a career as a professional ballet dance before deciding it would be too stressful.

Stanley said he and his wife were fond of ornament grasses and perennials, which are planted in planter boxes along the perimeter of the park. He said they will require only limited maintenance from the city staff tasked with keeping up the park.

Since construction on the park finished last month, Stanley said he’s received a few comments from people who wished there was more shade in the park. However, he said there’s not a good way to achieve that, since shade umbrellas would be liable to damage in the wind. He noted that there still is a good amount of shade along the southern edge of the park where it abuts the neighboring building and where there is plenty of seating. In fact, the seating along that side of the park was nearly full of diners who had brought their meals there from surrounding restaurants.