Firefighters, neighbors renovating Firemen's Park
June 24, 2010
John Bayldon's son and other youngsters in the neighborhood will
sometimes climb the fire engine, a vintage 1927 Seagrave Standards model,
parked at one side of Firemen's Park.
For no charge, the youngsters will offer to give adults passengers a
ride. Occasionally, "fires" will flare up, and youngsters "get out the fire
hose," and take care of immediate business.
The park, located at Maple and Simpson, is "just the core" of the
neighborhood, said Bayldon, an engineer.
Bayldon and other neighbors are helping firefighters from Evanston Local
742 rehab the park which has fallen into disrepair in recent years.
Firefighters, working on their off hours, began rehabbing the park last
week in advance of a planned July 22 memorial celebration.
Initially, they were looking to repair the Maltese Cross, a symbol of the
fire service, which topped a limestone monument dedicated to fallen
firefighters Marty Leoni, George Stiles and William Craig.
The dedication ceremony is scheduled to fall on the 25th anniversary of
the death of Leoni, the last Evanston firefighter to fall in the line of
service, said Marty Rafacz, Evanston firefighter-paramedic, helping
supervise the project.
"We thought it was important to get that area fixed up," he said.
But firefighters initial plans "which started kind of small," grew, said
firefighter-paramedic Dan Lynch, also taking a leading a role.
"The park wasn't forgotten but over the years it had gotten run down,"
Lynch said.
The curved walkway was cracked, some areas posed a tripping hazard.
Firefighters are putting in a crushed granite walkway. New benches and
new trees will be placed around the monument that itself will be encompassed
by a new brick paver patio measuring 2,000 square feet. Neighbors are
helping firefighters in the volunteer effort.
"It's definitely going to look awesome," Rafacz said.
City officials were supportive of firefighters desire to take the project
on.
The effort saves the city " a lot of money and shows the commitment by
firefighters to improve a park we don't have funding for right now," said
Parks head Doug Gaynor, stopping by the site last Friday.
Firefighters worked closely with members of the community.
"We had five or six meetings with the neighbors directly," Lynch said.
One of the residents, a great grandson of Stiles, who died in 1905, lives
down the street from the park. He "came by and made us lunch the other day,"
Lynch said.
For that matter, neighbors have been providing lunch for the firefighters
every day since they started the project.
Some questions arose initially whether the vintage fire engine would be
part of the park when finished.
Bayldon, an engineer, helped recruit members of a an Engineering Design
and Communications class at Northwestern University to come up with ideas to
bring the engine in line with national playground safety standards.
Immediate plans call for the placement of the fire engine at a new spot,
leaving six feet of space on all sides with 12 inches of wood chips to
cushion any falls, Rafacz said.
Neighbors "are putting in some sweat into this as well," said Bayldon,
helping pound in a stake at the site. "I've been here for five years now,
since my son was a year old," he said. "This park is kind of the center of
the whole neighborhood. On a typical afternoon after school, there maybe
anywhere from one to 30 kids playing there."
Besides sweat equity, residents have stepped forward in the project's
funding. The local is funding the project by selling engraved bricks. (For
more information and to order, visit
www.efdlocal742.com.)
The union donated roughly $8,100 from its general fund-raising toward the
project.
Firefighters plan to continue selling bricks past the dedication date, to
fund ongoing maintenance at the park.
Once completed, firefighters hope the park becomes a showpiece, perhaps
serving as the start for the Marti Leoni Fun Run, held every year in memory
of the Evanston firefighter.
