Babylon seeks names of gazebo donors

In 1985, close to 100 Babylon village residents and businesses donated money to help build the graceful white wood gazebo off Montauk Highway across from Argyle Lake Park. It has since been the scene of countless concerts and weddings, and the endpoint for the annual village Memorial Day parade.

A plaque was mounted on a rock next to the gazebo to record the donors' names for posterity. But problems ensued.

Problem one: The plaque was made from aluminum, which costs less than the bronze often used for monuments. It has been so degraded by exposure to the elements and salt air that many of the names are partly illegible.

Problems two and three: Village officials can find no record of the donors, not even a picture of the plaque when it was new, and the chairwoman of the committee that was in charge of gazebo fundraising, who might remember some names, is deceased.

Village trustees would like to replace the plaque with something more durable, like bronze.

But, said Mayor Ralph Scordino, "We're leery of getting a bronze plaque if we're not sure of the names . . . It's $4,000."

The solution: In coming weeks, the village will post on its website, villageofbabylonny.gov, what officials believe are the correct spellings of the faded names. Donors who recognize theirs are encouraged to contact Village Hall.