The Compo Beach playground is one of Westport’s cherished jewels.
All year long — but especially on gorgeous weekends — it draws delighted youngsters. They scamper in and out of a variety of play structures. They run, jump and swing.
Parents, grandparents, au pairs and nannies sit back and watch the show.
Who could not like a place like our playground?
Before it was built, the answer was: Plenty of folks.
A group of Westporters — primarily neighbors, but others around town — opposed the idea, when it was proposed in the late 1980s.
Their opposition continued, after hundreds of kids — working with noted playground designer Robert Leathers — helped design castles, ships and more.
The new playground — which would replace a couple of swings and monkey bars near the basketball court — was too close to the water, opponents argued.
It would destroy the “vista.” It would attract out-of-towners. It would also attract teenagers, who would drink, smoke and have sex in the wooden structures, and on the swings.
So the anti-playground crowd did a very Westport thing: They sued.
A protracted court battle followed. Construction plans were put on hold.
And then — one early spring day in 1989 — a court injunction was lifted.
Word spread quickly (though without cell phones, probably not instantly).
Building began. Here’s what it looked like:
Almost instantly, many of the residents who had fought the playground became huge fans. Their kids and grandkids loved it.
Out-of-towners appeciate it too (in the off-season, when they don’t need beach stickers.)
The smoking, drinking, sex-having teenagers must have found somewhere else to go.
Now — 36 years later, and nearly 2 decades after its first renovation — a second rebuild is about to begin.
The Westport Rotary Club, Westport Young Woman’s League, and hundreds of donors have raised $650,000 to make the playground better, safer, and even more fun.
Once again, scores of volunteers are ready to provide important man (and woman) power.
Just like in the 1989 photo below, souvenir t-shirts commemorate the event.
It’s another great Westport project.
With one important difference: No one has filed a lawsuit to stop it.
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David Jones
Such great pictures, Dan. Thanks for posting these. I remember those t-shirts well. My very small children wore them while rubbing big metal bolts with bars of soap to make them easier to fasten. There was a job for everyone.