New Director Leads Parks & Rec
By Chris Seymour | Correspondent at April 7, 2024 | 5:55 pm | Print
As the new Director of Parks & Recreation, Erik Barbieri oversees an expansive department that provides leisure, entertainment and other services to thousands of residents each year.
“The Parks & Rec staffs work very, very hard to provide as many positive recreational outlets for residents and we do our best to pinch pennies and do our best with what we are given,” said Barbieri, 42. “I am certainly proud of my staff and we are looking forward to making the department better than ever moving forward.”
Barbieri, who began working for Parks & Rec as an intern around 1995, became the acting director of the department in July 2015 and became permanent director in December.
Over the years, he has moved up the Parks & Rec ranks and seemed to be a natural fit to replace longtime former department head Bill DeMaio, who retired from the city last year.
“I started as a recreation program coordinator in 1998 and then I was recreation superintendent and then parks and rec director,” recalled Barbieri.
Barbieri had glowing words for DeMaio, whom he called “a legend,” adding, “He was around here for like 32 years and I want to thank him for training me and teaching me; he was literally a legend in our field and did a great job of preparing me the best he could … and I also I want to thank Pete Ledger, who was the director before Bill.”
As Parks & Rec Director, Barbieri is in charge of 25 full time employees as well as another 400 part-timers, a figure that includes students working during the summer time.
“People probably don’t realize how much Parks & Rec is in charge of: we do all the facility reservations and the actual reserving of parks and scheduling of overtime and things like that,” he detailed.
“We also have Fairview Cemetery as a division, Stanley Golf Course is under this department and obviously the recreation division, which has all the camps and pools and after school programs and specialty programs,” continued Barbieri. “Veterans Affairs is under this department as well as the Senior Center, Disability Services, and Youth and Family Services as well.”
The department also maintains city parks, including Willow Brook Park, AW Stanley Park, Stanley Quarter Park, Osgood Park, Chesley Park and Martha Hart.
“Recreation in general is people’s respite from the crazy, busy day they all work and run around in, so to be able to provide that to people to be able to enjoy, to take a deep breath, to me is very rewarding,” added Barbieri.
Barbieri, interestingly, ended up in New Britain over 20 years ago because he was a soccer player.
“I was drafted to play in the NPSL [the National Premier Soccer League], which is an indoor soccer league, and I did that in St. Louis right out of school,” he recalled. “And then came back and played for the Connecticut Wolves, which was out of New Britain, so I ended up kind of getting my start here in New Britain because the soccer team was out here.”
The rest, as they say, is history, as Parks & Rec has obviously been a rewarding career path for Barbieri.
“Working in the Parks & Rec field is something I have loved doing because you are giving people what they want—you are providing open space, parks, and ballfields and positive recreation,” said Barbieri.
