Milton Playground is officially open

By Mark Reynolds
Posted 10/28/20

After being put on temporary hold by the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year, the Milton playground project officially opened this past weekend with Pat Larkin doing the honors of cutting the …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Milton Playground is officially open

Posted

After being put on temporary hold by the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year, the Milton playground project officially opened this past weekend with Pat Larkin doing the honors of cutting the ceremonial ribbon that marked a milestone for the town. The project really took shape after her late husband, NYS Sen. William Larkin, was able to secure a $150,000 member item for the purchase of the equipment from Play And Park Structures in Chattanooga, Tennessee. A slew of volunteers came together every Saturday to lay out the equipment, dig holes for the needed support posts and cobble together more screws, nuts and bolts beyond anyone’s imagination that eventually brought the project to an official close this past weekend.

On Sunday Supervisor Al Lanzetta welcomed many of the volunteers and town residents to the opening.

“So this is a great day; after two years we have finally completed this beautiful, all-inclusive playground,” he said.

Lanzetta thanked Lira Patasso for sparking the idea for a new playground. She used to bring her young son to the old broken down playground and asked Lanzetta what can be done to improve the situation. The two of them began looking at some all-inclusive designs and soon formed a playground committee.

“My son has special needs and I wanted all kids in the community to access the playground and to be able to play with their peers, regardless of their abilities.” she said. “We went to events and interviewed the children and asked them what they want to see in the playground and what color schemes they liked. This is truly made for the kids and by the kids and that’s what I wanted to see happen.”

Patricia Haidaoui has long been involved in recreation in Marlborough and in 2012 issues of the shortcomings of the old playground began to surface.

“Parents came to me saying there are broken pieces, what can we do,” she recalled. “We started exploring options and found out we couldn’t fix it because of liability. We could take things apart but we could not add pieces on our own.” All roads led to constructing a new playground on the site.

Lanzetta said he called Sen. Larkin to tell him that the former playground needs to be replaced.

“He said Al no problem, how about $150,000 and I said that would be great Bill,” Lanzetta recalled. “Senator Larkin we miss him dearly. He was a good friend to Marlborough and he was always very kind and was there for the town. As he said, it didn’t matter if you were a Republican or a Democrat, he always liked me and my wife and we always got along good and it was never about politics.”

Lanzetta said they started the project in 2019 but had to stop with the arrival of winter and in the spring of this year the pandemic stopped many of the volunteers from coming out to help but a few key volunteers kept the project alive.

Lanzetta singled out Dave Zambito, of Zambito & Sons, for his help; “If it wasn’t for him, we would not have gotten this done.” He said Zambito came in with his machine and took down the old playground and La Mela’s Sanitation Service donated a roll off for the removal of the old parts.

Lanzetta also thanked his son Philip, his son-in-law Steve Gilman, Park Manager Tom Schroeder and Celeste Ricciardone for their help, “every weekend for three months we were here.”

Pat Larkin said it is great to see the kids out and enjoying the new playground, “and when I cut the ribbon I would love to see them run up this ramp. This is just beautiful and is an example of the community working together.”

Councilman Howard Baker read a note from Police Chief Gerald Coccoza who was unable to attend.

“If you have not seen the work they have done you should stop by. I had the pleasure of taking my daughter here this past Saturday and it was awesome. The work done is unbelievable and truly a benefit to this town. The park is amazing and the kids love it,” Cocozza wrote.

Councilman Scott Corcoran was called to work but sent along well wishes and his thanks to all of the volunteers who worked on the project.

In a subsequent interview Pat Larkin said her husband loved being at the Milton Park along with the weekly Farmer’s Market that is held close by.

“This has always been a community place and I know how much he thought of this place,” she said. “For me today, I love the idea that it’s inclusive and all the kids can use it. There is nothing normal any more but this playground is a normal thing and that’s just wonderful.”

Lanzetta said Marlborough is a community, “that always sticks together and always does the right thing for our children and the future.”

Ken Sowers, owner of Extreme Makeover Landscaping and Lawn, and his son Corey were part of the Saturday morning crew and helped by digging all of the holes and cementing the poles in place that support the structures of the playground equipment.

“We encountered some nice big boulders over here and we brought in a hammer to break them up and we just kept digging away,” he said. “It was well worth it to see the kids have something nice and safe to play on.”

Park Manager Tom Schroeder said the new playground, “is wonderful, it’s fantastic and the children love it. They have been here every day that it’s open and the parents have to pull them out when it’s time to go home. They’re crying because they don’t want to leave.”

Schroeder said the all inclusive playground provides every child with a safe place to play.

“I would have loved to be young again and to really be able to enjoy this myself,” he laughed.

Lanzetta also thanked a few additional local businesses that helped or donated to the project: West Rac Contracting Corps, Package Concrete for 320 bags of concrete and an additional 35 bags from Milton Hardware.