A total of $2,700 in donations has been received so far.
By: Gwen Runkle
WEST WINDSOR Funds are slowly but surely being collected for the memorial reflecting pond proposed for the Ron Rogers Arboretum in honor of community members lost in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
A total of $2,700 in donations has been received so far, said Harley Pickens, chairman of the arboretum committee.
Township Landscape Architect Daniel Dobromilsky previously estimated construction of the hourglass-shaped pond could cost $25,000, not including the planned wooden bridge.
Although collection is slow, the committee still expects to completely fund the project with donations because it has also begun to receive offers on non-monetary support.
Mr. Dobromilsky said some local landscape contractors have expressed interest in the project.
Several carpentry-savvy residents have also offered to build the benches around the pond and the committee is working on drawing up a uniform bench plan, Mr. Pickens said.
He also said the committee agreed, at its meeting Wednesday, that the names of residents who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center should be put on pavers on either side of the memorial bridge.
The names of township residents Jeffrey Chairnoff, 41, of Marion Drive; Michael J. Cunningham, 39; Edward R. Pykon, 33, of Hawthorne Drive; John Ryan, 45, of Ellsworth Drive; David Suarez, 24; and former township resident and graduate of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South Patrick Murphy, 36, of Millburn and Beach Haven would be included.
Donations can be sent to Friends of West Windsor Open Space, Attention: Sept. 11 Memorial, P.O. Box 73, Princeton Junction, NJ 08550. Checks should be made out to FOWWOS and all donations are tax-deductible. For more information, contact Mr. Pickens at (609) 799-0060.