Drone Video: Future Midden Lookout Park, approach from downtown Middletown over the North End neighborhood. Courtesy of Matthew Stauble, staublemedia.com.

On December 1st, Middletown’s Common Council unanimously supported a resolution granting permission for the Jonah Center to develop the city’s closed landfill (aka “midden”) into an environmental education and wildlife viewing area. The site overlooks a large marshland — the Floating Meadows — populated by herons, egrets, cormorants, osprey, eagles, ducks, beaver, muskrats, and deer.

Stay tuned to learn about next steps. We look forward to offering many opportunities for the community to get involved as this develops. Many hands make light work and our volunteers are truly awesome.

For now, we are thrilled to celebrate this milestone! Thanks to Mayor Nocera; Marek Kozikowski, Director of Land Use; the Department of Public Works, members of the Common Council and all the Jonah Center supporters who wrote in, shared a supportive public comment or were physically there at meetings and events leading up to this approval. Watch the drone video above to see the Midden (landfill) in relation to the Floating Meadows between Middletown and Cromwell.