14 years later community still supports Ben Layton

The Salisbury community gathered and cheered at Ben’s Red Swings as a ribbon cutting was held for the parks newest addition, bathrooms. The community and sponsors raising the money to help build the building that cost just shy of $63,000.

The fundraising effort itself, a true testament to how 14 years later the community is still supporting the legacy of Ben Layton, the young Salisbury boy who passed away at just four-years-old.

“He was the type of child and person who would have thought that this was a wonderful memorial, a wonderful project to keep going forever,” said Rod Layton, Ben’s grandfather.

During the ribbon cutting the Layton’s thanked Delmarva Veteran Builders for constructing the two bathroom building and thanked the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore for spearheading the fundraising for the building.

Salisbury city council president Jack Heath has seen Ben’s Red Swings from the beginning and remarked on just how far the park has come.

“If you go back 14 and a half years ago this was ‘muck’ as we just called it and if you look at it now what a phenomenal job these folks have done,” Heath said.

Heath said the new bathrooms were much a needed upgrade over the porta potties he described as ‘interesting’ and ‘not in the greatest shape’.

The fact that the community raised the money to fix that is what he said makes Salisbury great.

“I think if you ask anybody that’s not from here, they’ll say the one thing this is the most generous group of people that you can find,” Heath said.

Improvements aren’t done at the playground.An Eastern Shore themed tile mosaic will be installed on the building for the rest rooms. Heath said more upgrades will happen over the next few years