The Newest Compo Beach Playground Official Opening This Weekend
The small army of volunteers, 600 strong worked for two weeks in April and May to make this wonderful project a reality. Prior to that, the Compo Beach Playground group's goal was to raise $650,000 to bring the new playground to the children and people of Westport. Thanks to the incredible generosity of this town, the group raised more that $740,000 bringing the project to life.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com. Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
The playground was designed by the firm of Playgrounds by Design, headed by the fantastic Lee Archin, who is working on site alongside his crew and the volunteer army. Lee has playground design and construction in his DNA by this point in his career, having worked for for 18 years for the company that built the first Compo playground in 1989, Leathers & Associates, now known as Playgrounds By Leathers, before starting his own company.
This was an all-hands-on-deck community project and several companies including Harmony Design Build. The O'Dell Group, Bluewater Home supplied workers to make this exceptional project come together.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com. Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Contractor Playgrounds by Design's staff, Matt Benjamin, founder & owner Lee Archin and Hugh “island boy” Clark.
Lee Archin told Westport Local Press, “We’re honored to play a role in both preserving and reimagining a cherished part of this community’s history. My name is Lee Archin and I am the owner and founder of Play By Design. We were a full-service custom playground company, and our mission is to create inclusive, accessible play spaces that reflect the needs of the community. This project is especially meaningful, not only because of its historic significance, but also due to its unique location along the water. It’s a rare opportunity to help design a space that’s both beautiful and inclusive — a place where families of all abilities can come together and create lasting memories.”
Volunteers included town officials. Above, left, RTM member Sal Riccione, Ali Cammeyer, wife of RTM's Michael Cammeyer, and Board Of Finance's Danielle Dobin get busy with shovels in hand. At right, RTM member Andrew Collabella takes the controls of a skid steer, or skid-steer loader, a compact heavy equipment machine.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com. Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Above, left, Sheldon Kahan, CEO of Interstate Lumber on the Post Road in Westport stopped by to see the activity. Interstate donated lumber and hardware upwards of $30,000. The call for donation of tools needed for volunteers to assist in construction was answered by Rick Benson and Mike Bennett and other community members who donated over 100 hand and power tools.
One of the larger new pieces of equipment took multiple workers several hours to assemble and install.
Here are some of the wonderful new pieces of equipment that make the new playground an exciting place to play:
Innova Rocker; rope venture climber; cirrus swing; orb rocker, Brava swing, stem play activity panels, cradle bridge and accessible ice cream truck.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com. Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Boards and bricks which were donated by many Westport and area families were carefully removed and are available by contacting: CompoPlayground@gmail.com
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com. Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.