Arthur Rollin smiled when he opened the brown paper bag that was left on the front stoop of his family's home on Carnation Avenue. The bag was full of small jars, each containing an assortment of screws and nails. There was no note with the bag, but Arthur knew what the hardware was for. He was thankful for the help, and he is hoping for more.
The screws and nails are just some of the materials that the 17-year old Baldwin resident will need to rebuild the Baldwin police pagoda that once stood at the intersection of Merrick Avenue and Grand Avenue. Arthur, a member of the Boy Scout Troop 189, is hoping to be promoted to Eagle Scout this spring and the construction project is the last step in his journey to the highest honor in scouting. Eagle Scout candidates must complete an extensive community service project before they can earn the prestigious rank.
But if Arthur is going to be successful, he will need the help of the Baldwin community. And he is asking for it.
I need monetary donations no matter how big or small, said Arthur, sitting amid a clutter of blueprints, checklists and letters at his family's kitchen table. Or if anyone wants to donate building materials, or knows someone who can, that would be great too.
Arthur is off to a good start, having already received a donation of lumber from a local contractor and a generous check from the Policeman's Benevolent Association. But he's got a long way to go before ground breaking this spring.
Honoring Baldwin police officers
Arthur came up with the idea to rebuild the police pagoda while looking through his father's Baldwin Fire Department 100th Anniversary Yearbook.
I thought it looked kind of cool, said Arthur, recalling when he first saw pictures of the original pagoda. I like the old style of buildings on Grand Avenue. I thought it would be cool to copy [the pagoda] exactly the same as it was.
And Arthur has decided to dedicate the new pagoda to Baldwin police officers who have been killed in the line of duty.
Since there aren't any real memorials to them, I thought it would be fitting, said Arthur.
Arthur also believes that the project will work well with the Baldwin downtown development project and that the pagoda will be a real asset to the community.
The construction project is a big undertaking and much of the hard work has already begun, including dealing with local government agencies and the police department to get permission and permits for the project. Actually, Arthur has been working since last January, weaving his way through red tape to get the go ahead for the project. It hasn't been easy.
I haven't really liked the process. You sort of get the run around, said Arthur, who says he is getting a great lesson in how local politics work. Arthur credits Baldwin residents Doug Diana and County Legislator Joe Scannell, an Eagle Scout himself, with helping him navigate the political maze.
The Baldwin landscape has changed a bit since the late1940's when the pagoda last stood and it would be difficult to rebuild the pagoda in it's original location, right in the middle of Grand Avenue. So the pagoda will be located in Silver Lake Park, at the base of Hillside Court. It will house an emergency call box and provide space for police officers to write reports or station a post. The pagoda will have heat and electricity.
But while the location will change, the new pagoda will resemble the old one in every other way. Arthur worked with an architect to draw blueprints using the old photographs. He even relied on the people in the old pictures to give them a sense of the scale of the structure.
Arthur is a graduate of St. Christopher's School in Baldwin and is currently in his senior year at Chaminade High School. There he is a member of the German, social studies club and woodworking clubs. He volunteers in the book store and as a cook at the school's retreat house. Arthur even finds the time to hold down a job at a CVS in Oceanside. He's a young man with a lot of energy and that energy has enabled him to move quickly through the scouting ranks, having only begun scouting in the eighth-grade.
The project has been a great training ground for Arthur, who hopes to attend Catholic University, in Washington, D.C., in the Fall and study architecture.
Arthur says his Eagle Scout project has been a great experience so far, especially as more and more people have gotten involved and lent a helping hand.
I like the fact that it's not just people I know who are helping me. People have shown a lot of interest in the project, said Arthur. I'm glad they trust that they can send a check to some kid they don't know.
After all, if you can't trust an Eagle Scout, who can you trust?
