WESTPORT, Conn. – Preparation work on a new playground that will be dedicated to 6-year-old Dylan Hockley, one of the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, is under way at Westport’s Long Lots School.
The playground is being built through the “Sandy Ground Project: Where Angels Play” initiative led by the New Jersey State Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association. A total of 26 playgrounds—each dedicated to one of the Sandy Hook victims—will be built in Hurricane Sandy-devastated communities in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut as part of the project.
Construction on the Long Lots playground is expected to begin next Friday. Crews from A.J. Penna & Son and Kowalsky Brothers Inc. in Westport began preparing the site Thursday, Westport Deputy Fire Chief Robert Kepchar announced. Westport’s Gault Energy is providing the materials for the site work and cement needed for the playground construction, he said.
“The generosity of these Westport companies has played a key role in making the playground a reality,” Kepchar said in a statement.
Construction of the playground—the fourth to be built through the project— is being funded by donations made to the Sandy Ground Project.
Westport residents are asked to “pay it forward” and help fund the construction of the remaining playgrounds by supporting the Sandy Ground Project. Donations can be made directly on the Sandy Ground Project website.