The Six Lakes Park Coalition is an alliance of concerned neighbors and supporting organizations that have come together to preserve and make publicly available the 102-acre wildlife and aquatic resource of Six Lakes, otherwise known as the Olin Powder Farm, in southern Hamden. A steering committee made up of representatives from the coalition organizations, local politicians, and concerned residents leads the coalition’s advocacy, planning, and outreach.

Member Organizations

  • Save the Sound

    Save the Sound leads environmental action in your region. We fight climate change, save endangered lands, protect the Sound and its rivers, and work with nature to restore ecosystems.

  • Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut

    CONECT’s work begins with relationships. Our team works hard to build trust in one-on-one and small group meetings both inside individual congregations and among our diverse membership. Through active listening, we discover critical issues to tackle and identify those leaders who are ready to take meaningful action.

  • Newhall Neighborhood

    Many of Newhall’s predominantly Black, working class families came to Newhall during the Great Migration to work in the nearby Winchester Repeating Arms Company factory. The land on which Newhall was built was once a system of wetlands that flowed into Six Lakes. Neighbors today are leading the movement to create a park at Six Lakes.

  • Connecticut Land Conservation Council

    The Connecticut Land Conservation Council advocates for land conservation, stewardship and funding, and works to ensure the long term strength and viability of the land conservation community.

  • Town of Hamden

    The Town of Hamden is driven by the responsibility to provide life safety protection and conservation of property to an engaged and diverse community. Public safety is the cornerstone of good government.

  • South Central Regional Land Conservation Alliance

    The South Central Regional Land Conservation Alliance (SCRLCA) is a regional conservation partnership (RCP) consisting of land trusts, town commissions, environmental groups, and other like-minded organizations whose purpose is to work together to have a greater impact preserving open space in south central Connecticut.

Steering Committee

  • Justin Farmer

    Justin Farmer represents District 5 on the Town of Hamden Legislative Council.

  • Elizabeth Hayes

    Elizabeth Hayes is a community activist and a member of the Hamden Democratic Town Committee. She is a resident of Newhall.

  • Kathy Czepiel

    Kathy Czepiel is the Lands Communications Specialist for Save the Sound.

  • A. J. Wallace

    A.J. Wallace is a community organizer for coalition member CONECT, a collective of interfaith congregations in New Haven and Fairfield Counties representing more than 30,000 people.

  • Laurie Sweet

    Laurie Sweet is an at-large representative on the Hamden Town Council. She chairs the Environment and Conservation Committee.

  • Melinda Tuhus

    Melinda Tuhus is a mostly-retired journalist and currently a climate activist on the local, state and national levels. She blogs about the climate (and other topics) at melindatuhus.net.

  • Sue McDonald

    Sue McDonald is an active member of Congregation Mishkan Israel and CONECT. She is a 20-year resident of Hamden’s Spring Glen neighborhood. Sue is retired from a career overseeing non-profit financial management, working for organizations ranging from Stamford Neighborhood Housing Services to Yale Law School.

  • Elizabeth Langhorne

    Elizabeth Langhorne is a member of the board of the Hamden Land Conservation Trust. She moved to Hamden in 1990 and served an earlier term on the HLCT board, supporting the early efforts of the HLCT to open the Olin Powder Farm to the public. Elizabeth is also a member of the core group of the Hamden Alliance for Trees. She taught art history for 27 years at Central Connecticut State University, where she curated a number of art exhibitions on sustainability and climate change.

  • Joe Blumberg

    Joe Blumberg and his wife are residents of Whitney Center. Joe was a property and casualty insurance agent for 64 years. He has been a nature lover all his life and served as vice president of the Connecticut  Audubon Society and as a board member and officer of several other nonprofit organizations.

  • Gail Cameron

    Gail Cameron is the current president of the Hamden Land Conservation Trust. She is a lifelong resident of Hamden and retired after working 44 years at the Yale School of Medicine. Gail is also park naturalist for the Sleeping Giant Park Association.

What Our Supporters Are Saying About Six Lakes

  • Six Lakes is a lovely asset for Whitney Center. Its natural beauty, privacy, and bird life make living here so pleasant for all of us.
    Joe Blumberg, Whitney Center resident
  • The Six Lakes Park Coalition’s efforts toward the remediation of the Olin Powder Farm site and transitioning it to much-needed parkland addresses environmental concerns while opening the benefits of healthy green space in a historically marginalized neighborhood.
    Kristin Barendregt-Ludwig, Yale Center for Environmental Justice
  • Six Lakes is an oasis of tranquility. You feel in unison with nature, surrounded by nature. You feel a part of it.
    Elizabeth Hayes, Newhall resident
  • Residents in Southern Hamden need more open spaces and recreation spaces. Working to make Six Lakes a state park is a priority of my administration. My goals as mayor are to improve residents' lives and create a more affordable future for Hamden. Six Lakes will improve health outcomes for our residents and improve quality of life. This would also be a boom to economic development that would increase our grandlist… It is rare to find large open spaces in urban settings. Exchanging a site that caused environmental harm and a business practice that has added to the number of guns in our country into a park that improves people’s lives would be an amazing accomplishment.
    Mayor Lauren Garrett, Town of Hamden