Winchester Breaks Ground on Pride Park [VIDEO]

Nearly 100 people gathered at Friday evening for the groundbreaking ceremony of , a small, peaceful area around the Knowlton plaque named in honor of the late Winchester teen.

“The name Mark F. Frattaroli Pride Park is something that’s really fitting for him because he took pride in everything he did, from his school work to the athletic fields, to the interactions he had with people, strangers, classmates,” Frattaroli’s brother, Philip, said at the ceremony.

“He tried to be perfect in everything he did,” Philip added. “It’s as if he already knew he wouldn’t have a long time to make his mark on the world.”

Frattaroli was a 16-year-old sophomore at Lawrence Academy in Groton in 2008 when he died from injuries sustained in a car accident.

Philip was joined by his parents, Filippo and Anna, sisters, Jessica and Daniella, as well as relatives, friends of the family and members of the Winchester Field Development Council, which has been responsible for fundraising for the reconstruction of Manchester Field.

About 200 bricks and 50 plaques, commemorating past Winchester residents, will be used to help build the park. The inscribed surfaces helped raise money for the reconstruction project.

The council’s president, Paul Manganaro, presented the Frattaroli family with plaques of the park. He coached both Philip and Mark when they were kids.

“For me and my brother,” Philip said, “and for an entire generation of young men in this town, [Manganaro has] been a model of what community service and giving back to your community should be like.”

Manganaro said construction of the park will begin Aug. 15 and should take about 45 to 60 days to complete. Zen Associates, Inc., a Woburn-based environmental design firm, designed the park for free.