Over the years, the Watch Hill Improvement Society, in fulfilling its mission has worked together with the Watch Hill Park Commission to maintain and enhance the Village Park on Bay Street. Members provide weekly maintenance of the gardens and have contributed to the larger enhancements, including donation of the gazebo and memorial benches, and the restoration the statues.
In the mid 1930’s, the Watch Hill Fire District’s Park Commission, attempting to find the best use for its newly vacated property along Bay Street, suggested to the Watch Hill Improvement Society that they create a Memorial Park dedicated to its members.
Renowned landscape architect and Improvement Society member, Marian Cruger Coffin, agreed to develop a plan for the two triangular pieces of property adjacent to the bay. At the same time, the Fire District and the Improvement Society were deliberating about what to do with the Chief Ninigret statue. Commissioned by Mrs. Clement A. Griscom in 1913, the fountain statue was created by Enid Yandell, a student of Auguste Rodin, and cast by Alexis Rudier in Paris in 1914. The statue was brought to the US and dedicated in memory of Clement A. Griscom as a gift to the Village. Chief Ninigret had originally been placed on a horse trough at the intersection of Ninigret Avenue and Westerly Road, where water flowed from the mouths of the two fish into the trough to water the horses. Over the years, with the decline of horse travel and the increase of automobile traffic, it was decided that a better location could be found for this beautiful statue. At the suggestion of some members, in 1935 Marian Coffin included the Chief Ninigret statue in her plans for the Memorial Park and surrounded by memorial benches. Marion’s plan also called for a public drinking fountain in the southern end of the Park. The Improvement Society commissioned Sylvia Shaw to create what was to become The Dreamer statue, which was donated by Mrs. Ridley Watts in memory of her late husband.
In the 1980’s, a major renovation was made possible thanks to the Watch Hill Memorial Library and Improvement Society and the generosity of its many members and friends. Through the kindness and generosity of the Lattner Family Foundation, a gazebo was added to the Park.
As the 100th anniversary of Chief Ninigret approached, the WHMLIS sought permission from the Fire District to restore the statue, as well as to develop a comprehensive plan for the restoration of the entire Village Park. At the end of the summer of 2015, the WHMLIS approved expenditures for the restoration of the Chief Ninigret statue to its original design as a working fountain, reclaiming the memorial benches and stepping stones from invasive rosa rugosa, replanting of hydrangea, and repair work on the Dreamer. The entire restoration has been a wonderful complement to our beautiful village of Watch Hill.