New Jersey Firefighters Offering Memorial Playground For Riverside Park

A New Jersey firefighters’ union is offering to build a playground in New London as one of 26 to be built as a tribute to the victims of December’s shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

“Sandy Ground—Where Angels Play” also intends to assist coastal communities affected by Hurricane Sandy in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York. The New Jersey State Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association is overseeing the effort and is breaking ground on the first playground this week.

Bill Lavin, president of the union, gave a presentation at a special meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission on Wednesday. Lavin said he visited Riverside Park and considered it an ideal location for a memorial playground since it was strongly reminiscent of the favorite location of a child who was killed in the December shooting in Newtown.

“It just absolutely fits all the things that we want to do,” he said.

The offer comes in the midst of a dispute over whether a playscape should be relocated from Veterans Field to Riverside Park.

Lavin—a member of the fire department in Elizabeth, N.J.—said the idea for the project grew out of the union's relationship mutual charity with a Mississippi community over the course of several years. A school sent letters of support to the department after it assisted in the response to the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Members of the union traveled to the community to help after it was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, and its work included building a new playground there and in two other towns. The community again reached out to the department after Hurricane Sandy devastated the Atlantic coast.

Lavin said the union has raised enough money to fund about eight and a half playgrounds and that it intends to raise all funds through private donations. He said the cost range for the playgrounds is $52,000 to $72,000 each.

New London would accept the playground as a gift, although the project would still have to be approved on a local level. Some members of the union would assist in the project, but it would mostly be constructed through local volunteer efforts.  

“It’s a fun project,” said Lavin. “You can do it as quickly as one or two days or spread it out over a week.”

Lavin said the families of the victims have given consent to the project. He did not name the victim the Riverside Park playground would honor, saying there are still discussions regarding these sites and the playground may honor another victim. The design for each site will take into consideration the personality and interests of each victim.

The first playground—at Sea Bright, N.J.—will be opened this weekend, while there will be a groundbreaking shortly for a second playground at Union Beach, N.J. The last playground will be located in Newtown.

George Potts, a lieutenant in the New London Police Department and member of the Parks and Recreation Commission, offered to be a point of contact on the proposal.

“Without a doubt I’m sure we’re going to get this going,” he said.

According to the Associated Press, the 26 playgrounds will be built in communities affected by the storm, and each playground will honor a student or adult killed at the school. Six playgrounds will be located in Connecticut, and 10 each will be located in New Jersey and New York. Donations toward the project may be made at thesandygroundproject.org.

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