Collier Memorial Playground Approved by Selectmen

Selectmen Monday night unanimously approved the building of the Sean Collier Memorial Playground at Silver Lake.

The playground will be built in September to honor Collier, a Wilmington native and MIT officer who was shot and killed during the search and capture of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects.

New Jersey-based non profit Where Angels Play, plans to build the playground to celebrate the life of Collier. The playground will be located at Silver Lake and is scheduled to be built in September.

Where Angels Play built 26 playgrounds in areas damaged by Hurricane Sandy in honor of the 26 students and teachers who died at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Each is named after a student or teacher who was killed in the attack.

The company’s goal is “to create joyful places to play. To provide hope, recovery and a return to family values in the wake of senseless violence and tragedy.”

Collier was killed four days after the Boston Marathon bombings when he was ambushed in his police cruiser by two men who were the center of the manhunt that terrorized the state and the region, killing four and injuring more than 170 others.

A permanent memorial honoring Collier was unveiled at MIT in April.