Ansonia school slated for new playground

With a backhoe as a background, Ansonia Mayor James Della Volpe, left, joins John G. Prendergast School Principal Joseph Apicella, center, and Assistant Principal Sherrod McNeill after Monday's demolition of an old playground.

The three men thanked public works and school maintenance crews for their help in razing the play equipment.

Apicella said he is hopeful the school will soon a new playground from an initiative launched by the New Jersey Firefighters’ Mutual Benevolent Association.

The firefighters’ union is raising money to build 26 playgrounds throughout New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, and Prendergast School is a finalist, Apicella said.

The playgrounds are part of The Sandy Ground Project, in memory of the 26 victims who died during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Fingers crossed that Prendergast pupils will soon have a new, safe area in which they can have fun and let out that youthful energy.