Construction of the outdoor classroom in memory of Brigid Curtin will begin Monday, May 11.

By Ronni Newton

More than $320,000 has been raised, and nothing, not even a pandemic, could prevent Tim Curtin and Jane Murphy from gathering for the ceremonial groundbreaking Friday morning, to thank those who are making the outdoor classroom that honors their daughter at West Hartford’s Westmoor Park a reality.

A small crowd assembled – maintaining proper physical distancing – but although hugs were absent, the emotion of the moment was clearly evident in eyes peaking out above masks, and in the voices of those who spoke.

“The ground on which we are standing may seem unremarkable, but this is a very special spot for Jane and me,” said Curtin. “This is a summer camp assembly area, and will be the site of the new outdoor classroom at Westmoor Park.”

A multi-functional outdoor classroom had been identified by park and town staff as a need for protection from the weather and for children to gather before dispersing for Westmoor Park’s many programs.

After Brigid Curtin died tragically at age 12 on Dec. 17, 2018, and Murphy was seriously injured, the community asked how they could support the family. “Without hesitation our response was: ‘Support Westmoor Park,'” Curtin said.

The park was Brigid’s favorite place in the world, her parents said, and she had been looking forward to becoming a counselor in training there when she was older.

The Friends of Brigid Curtin at Westmoor Park was formed in late 2019 for the purpose of raising money for the outdoor classroom, and partnered with Westmoor Park, Leisure Services, and others from the community to help make that vision come to fruition.

“Brigid was an unassuming girl and our goal has been to ensure the project will be in keeping with her spirit and enhance the camp programs she loved so much,” Curtin said. “We are here today as we achieve a milestone of making this classroom a reality with anticipated ribbon cutting ceremony in early July.”

Doug Jackson, Westmoor Park manager and naturalist, said there had long been a dream to have a space for campers to assemble, with 8,000-10,000 gathering every year and little indoor space. “The need for an outdoor classroom was a great need,” Jackson said.

“Today, as the years of dreaming and planning come to fruition, I want to express my deep thanks to Tim and Jane for their ongoing friendship and support of Westmoor Park all over the years and continuing,” said Jackson, adding his thanks Tom Daly of Milone & MacBroom and his family, as well as Chuck and Mary Coursey, and the many others in the community who brought the project to this point.

The dream for the outdoor classroom, which had been discussed for years, and the dream of a way to appropriately honor Brigid Curtin have both been realized. “Those dreams came together. It’s the same dream,” said Director of Leisure and Social Services Helen Rubino-Turco. “And we’re so pleased that this project was able to be brought to this new phase, the groundbreaking, in a relatively short period of time.”

“Most of all I want to thank Tim [Curtin] and Jane [Murphy] for their incredible strength and their compassion, and their love for the community because it was infectious and it came right back to you,” said Mayor Shari Cantor. “We are stronger together and that’s what community is all about. Today’s celebration is a wonderful example of something beautiful coming out of a tragic event, and that’s what makes us such a special community.”

Cantor added that this project is not being funded by taxpayer dollars, but rather all through donations. And at this time, when people are wearing masks and need to avoid large gatherings, creating a new outdoor space makes this groundbreaking very timely in an even more special way.

“This project is truly a collaboration,” Murphy said, thanking the many who made it possible, including the donors to the GoFundMe campaign, those who donated in Brigid’s name through the Westmoor Park Fund, Feast on the Farm, those involved with Johnny’s Jog for Charity, and the staff and campers at Westmoor Park. She also thanked “those who took our vision and are making it into a reality.”

Murphy said that in addition to being used for the outdoor classroom, and after conversation with Westmoor Park staff, the rest of the funds raised will be used for a scholarship to fund a counselor or instructor and scholarship in Brigid’s memory.

“Brigid loved Westmoor Park very very much, and would be very happy to have everybody in the town have the opportunity to come here,” Murphy said. “This is a very bittersweet day for us … and we’re excited that it’s getting off the ground.”

Curtin returned to the microphone to end the brief ceremony, again giving his heartfelt thanks to those who have brought the outdoor classroom to this point, and will make the dream reality over the next several months.

“These are the grounds Brigid walked and played and laughed and spent her summers, the carefree days of youth. Jane and I miss her beyond words and we find comfort in the project, the utility and joy it will bring generations of campers for many many years. Brigid would have been so excited to see this wonderful addition to the park,” Curtin said.

Tom Daly, a West Hartford resident and civil engineer with Milone and MacBroom, donated his time and resources to design the 24-by-44-foot solid timber frame structure, which will be open on all four sides and have a metal roof. He said Friday that the work is ready to begin Monday, and the building permits have been approved.

The pile of stones at one edge of the site, in which several shovels had been thrust, will become part of the base of the outdoor classroom. Hartford-based T&T Concrete & Landscapes will be responsible for the concrete slab, utility connections, and stone fireplace – something extra that was not originally part of the plan but became possible when the fundraising was so successful. The beautiful fireplace will include native fieldstone, Daly said.

The outdoor classroom will also have electricity.

Hardwick Post and Beam, a multi-generational family business based in Hardwick, MA, is already working on carving the wood beams. Daly said there was some fear that the COVID-19 pandemic would stall the arrival of the timber from the west coast, but it actually arrived three weeks early.

Murphy and Curtin spent some extra time speaking with reporters following the official ceremony, talking more about their daughter and what the project would have meant to her.

“She had an infectious personality, always laughing,” Murphy said. She said Brigid would have wanted other campers to have the same experience at Westmoor that she did.

“She was quiet, but everybody’s best friend,” said Curtin. “She’d be embarrassed if this structure were in any way attributed to her. … It’s not about Brigid, or our family. It’s about a need for the park.”

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