An unexpected bequest to the McMurray Kirtland Memorial Fund will be a gift to the community that its residents will long remember. The committee for the Law Enforcement Fund, the successor fund to the McMurray Kirtland Fund, agreed at a March 17 meeting that they would support using $62,500 from the Drusilla F. Chatfield’s bequest to rebuild the worn and weathered Town Beach pavilion.

The wood structure of the existing Town Beach pavilion is more than 30 years old and at the end of its useful life. Another impact to the existing pavilion were the two major storms, Irene and Sandy, that damaged the wood structure. After the storms, the structure, though battered, was still deemed safe enough to use.

The Parks & Recreation Commission has already approved the design for the pavilion replacement project. The town’s land use boards have reviewed this plan and accepted it. The plans call for replacement of the pavilion with a structure of similar style and scale that will use the same concrete pad and footprint as the current one.

Once the Town Meeting accepts the bequest—and the Law Enforcement Fund Committee and the town agree to appropriate the funds needed to complete the Beach pavilion project—work could proceed.

The Law Enforcement Fund also approved at its March 17 meeting a $9,500 request from Parks & Recreation Director Ray Allen to buy four, adjustable-height basketball hoops to be installed at the Vin Baker Courts behind the Recreation Center.

The existing basketball standards on these courts will be moved to Town Park and Trask Road to update the courts at those recreation locations.

Also approved by the committee was a funding request from Coach Peter M. Capezzone for $4,000 to buy a mat for the high school high jump pit.