November 04, 2013
$1 Million Cornerstone Donation from Liberty Mutual Insurance Makes Play Accessible to All
Mayor Thomas M. Menino today joined Liberty Mutual Insurance Chairman and CEO David H. Long for a ribbon cutting ceremony to unveil the City of Boston’s first universally accessible playground at the Charlestown Navy Yard. The project includes a new, 23,000 square foot boardwalk and 63 pieces of play equipment contained in a 15,000 square foot rubber playground area, complete with ADA accessible paths and gathering spaces.
“This playground has been very special to me. It will be the first in our city that is universally accessible to children and adults of all abilities,” Mayor Menino said. “This is Boston at its best – people coming together to improve the quality of life for the residents of our city.”
Liberty Mutual Insurance provided the cornerstone donation of $1 million for the creation and construction of the playground. Approximately 100 children, with and without disabilities, were on hand for the celebration.
“Today is a very special day for us at Liberty Mutual Insurance,” said David H. Long, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Liberty Mutual Insurance. “Today, our small, yet honorable guests will break in a remarkable place where children of all abilities can play together. We are thrilled to have made Boston's universally accessible playground possible.”
The park also includes other site furnishings including benches, tables, trash receptacles, bike racks, fence/rail systems, signage and lighting, and connection to the Harborwalk liner path system. More than 400 granite blocks were used for construction, some sourced from the original seawall on site. Timbers used for seating were once intended for use for mast during Drydock 5’s shipbuilding era.
Also participating in the celebration were David Storto, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital President, Kristin McCosh, Commissioner for Boston’s Commission for Persons with Disabilities, Boston Parks Commissioner Toni Pollack, and children from Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and the Harvard-Kent Elementary School.
“We applaud the leadership of Mayor Menino, David Long and all of the donors here today in creating this tremendous recreational resource for children of all physical abilities,” said David Storto, President of Spaulding. “The universally accessible playground is synergistic with the commitment Spaulding made in building its new hospital to serve as a model of inclusive design and we are extremely proud and pleased to be associated with it,” Storto went on to say.
During the event children from Spaulding Hospital as well as kindergarteners, first and second graders from nearby Harvard-Kent School and Escuelita Borikén located in the South End helped to christen the new playground.
About Liberty Mutual Insurance
“Helping people live safer, more secure lives” since 1912, Boston-based Liberty Mutual Insurance is the fifth largest global property and casualty insurer and the third largest in the United States. We employ more than 50,000 people located in approximately 900 offices worldwide.
As we have expanded, so too has our philanthropy. Today, we support nonprofits where we have operations across the globe through our Foundations as well as; Serve with Liberty, an annual week of global employee volunteer service, and Give with Liberty, an annual campaign where the company matches employee contributions to local, national and international 501(c)(3) health and human service organizations most important to employees and their families.
About Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
Founded in 1971, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston is one of the largest rehabilitation facilities in the United States, and is ranked the 6th top rehabilitation hospital in the country by U.S. News & World Report. As the official teaching hospital of the Harvard Medical School Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R), Spaulding is at the forefront of research in advances in rehabilitative care. In April 2013, Spaulding opened a new 132-bed facility in Charlestown which is national model for environmental and inclusive design. With a wide range of inpatient programs and 23 outpatient centers throughout Eastern Massachusetts, Spaulding strives to continually update and improve its programs to offer patients the latest, high-quality care through its leading, expert providers. Spaulding has been awarded a Model Systems designation in three specialty areas- Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury and Brain Injury Rehabilitation- by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. For more information, please visit www.spauldingrehab.org.
For More Information:
City of Boston
Office of the Mayor
Thomas M. Menino
Press Office, 617-635-4461
