BERLIN – A groundbreaking ceremony for Burbage Park’s ping pong tables is set for April 2.
The public is invited to Burbage Park on William Street Saturday, April 2, at 9 a.m. for a groundbreaking ceremony for what will be known as “The Tables at Burbage Park.” The project, spearheaded by nonprofit We Heart Berlin, will include the installation of two ping pong tables at the small park.
“Once we start it will only take a week to finish,” said Tony Weeg, president of We Heart Berlin.
Weeg and We Heart Berlin have been working since last year to bring ping pong to Burbage Park, the typically overlooked green space in front of the town’s power plant on William Street. With the town council’s approval of a memorandum of understanding last week, the project is now set to move forward. While the tables themselves were purchased by We Heart Berlin and have been in storage awaiting installation, a local company is set to help install a small brick wall between the tables and the street as well as a brick path.
Though installation is getting close, We Heart Berlin is still selling personalized bricks for the project. For $100, sponsors can purchase a brick engraved with text (and emojis) of their choice. For more information, visit weheartberlin.org. Weeg said 21 bricks had been sold so far.
“And they’ll be for sale forever in groups of 25 at a time,” he said, “so there’s not a sense of ‘too late’ just maybe have to wait a bit.”
After the success of the renovation of the Henry Park basketball courts—which now feature a mural—We Heart Berlin plans to incorporate art into all of its projects. As a result, Weeg said plans are in the works for a mural to be painted on the grey concrete wall between the power plant and the park space.
“Having that would be such a cool addition,” Weeg said, “and all of our projects are going to include art in them.”
Weeg founded We Heart Berlin in 2021 to promote healthy and sustainable activities and to support the improvement of recreational opportunities to benefit Berlin and its residents. Following last fall’s basketball court renovation and the upcoming installation of the ping pong tables, the nonprofit plans to focus on bringing a skatepark to Berlin.
