Stamford Advocate Covers Our Green Space Opening

This article on the opening of our green space play area was published by the Advocate on September 9, 2008. We're re-posting it here for posterity. If you'd like to read it on the Advocate site, click here.


Ex-K.T. Murphy Students see their dream come true

By Wynne Parry
Staff Writer
Article Launched: 09/09/2008 02:40:37 AM EDT

STAMFORD - When a horde of kindergartners and first-graders from K.T. Murphy Elementary School rushed through a snipped ribbon into a new playground on George Street last week, a 9-year-old dream came true.

But the students who advocated for the patch of grass with slides and a climbing wall hung back. Now seniors in high school, their playground days are over.

Steven Totino, a senior at Westhill High School, said he doubted the day would come. As a third-grader at K.T. Murphy, he and others sought green space for the school, which had none.

"I remember just playing on all concrete - kickball, basketball," Totino said.

In 1999, while drafting its 20-year master plan, the city asked students to help. Third-graders at K.T. Murphy suggested the city purchase property adjacent to the school, making their case before the Planning Board in 2000, said Robin Stein, land use bureau chief.

"I did it for my teacher. I wanted to do it because I was with my friends," said former K.T. Murphy student Christopher Festa, now a senior at Westhill.

Nothing happened until 2006, when the homeowner at 44 George St. remembered the students' appeal when he decided to sell his 0.16-acre property.

To make their case for appropriating the $650,000 to buy the property, some of the original students went before the Board of Finance and the Board of Representatives.

Totino doesn't remember the initial presentation from third grade, but he remembers going before the elected boards two years ago.

"I was nervous speaking, but I was glad I did," he said.

The ribbon-cutting Friday marked the first time children were allowed onto the new playground.

"This is one of the highlights of my career. It is an example of what our youth can accomplish," Stein said during a presentation.

He had hoped to invite the homeowner, Jack Thorme, but was unable to find him, Stein said.

- Staff Writer Wynne Parry can be reached at 964-2263 or wynne.parry@scni.com.